Red Bull X-Alps 2017 wildcard athletes. Mitch Riley (L) and Jose Ignacio Arévalo Guede (R)
Two wildcard athletes have been announced for the 2017 Red Bull X-Alps: Mitch Riley (US) and Jose Ignacio Arévalo Guede (ES) will take their places on the start line, along with the other 30 athletes, on 2 July 2017.
Mitch Riley from the USA is a 32-year-old paragliding instructor with a passion for the outdoors. He was US national champion in 2015, and has vol-bivouacked in Pokhara and Alaska. Read ‘USA Couch Surfer’ in issue 176 to find out more about the Californian, who will be Team USA3’s athlete in the competition.
The second wildcard athlete is Jose Ignacio Arévalo Guede; a firefighter by profession, he is the only Spaniard in this year’s race. He has had several wins at Spanish national competitions as well as further afield, and has been a professional cyclist in the past. He has twice competed in the X-Pyr.
Race director Christoph Weber says:
We are extremely excited to give two more athletes the chance to participate in Red Bull X-Alps 2017. They may be Red Bull X-Alps rookies, but they certainly have the skill and experience to challenge the rest of the field. As we’ve learned from previous races, the constantly changing conditions make it impossible to predict the outcome, so it really is anyone’s game.
The race starts on 2 July 2017. The exact route and turnpoints have yet to be revealed, but athletes will have to race over a 1,000km course from Salzburg to Monaco by foot and paraglider.
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