By day 3 of ‘ARWC2026 - Corsica is Magic’ every team taking part knew they were in an Adventure Racing World Championship that would take all of their resolve and grit to finish.
Adventure Racing is the toughest endurance sport of all, the AR World Championship is set to challenge the best teams, and the race organisers of ARWC2026 are renowned for their long, technical and uncompromising courses. The course is wild, the weather varied, all teams must complete all of the checkpoints on the 500km course together and if anyone on the team withdraws that team is unranked, there are no substitutes. It’s the ultimate team sport.
By day 3 of ‘ARWC2026 - Corsica is Magic’ every team taking part knew they were in an Adventure Racing World Championship that would take all of their resolve and grit to finish. They would expect nothing less.
During the second night of the non-stop race the teams were spread across Stage E, a 72km trek over the Aguilles de Bavella and Monte Incudine. Climbing over 4320m, canyoning the Fiumicelli gorges and crossing two iconic peaks would be an expedition beyond comprehension for most, but in this race it is one stage of 12, and one day of 8.
The challenges on the trek were many. Racers were on their feet for a long time, their shoes wet from the canyon and their feet sore from the first two days of racing. Finding the checkpoints required accurate map and compass skill, and even race favourites, 400team Altore, who know the Corsican maps and terrain, said it was hard to navigate and stay on the trails, especially at night. At times teams were crawling through dense thorn bushes and drinking water was hard to find for hours on end. The reward for the efforts of the teams has been to enjoy some of the most magnificent scenery on the island and to see wild places where few ever tread.
The race leaders were a little slower than the predicted 24 hours for the stage and completed the trek just before dawn, with the top 3 teams arriving at Transition Area 5 between 05.42 and 05.57 - it’s an incredibly close race! French team Luberon MUC arrived just ahead of two Estonian teams, Tactical Foodpack and Estonia ACE/La Sportiva.
Estonia ACE/La Sportiva let their lead slip during the night. A navigational error lost them some time and one racer was struggling with fatigue as the team had taken no sleep in the first 48 hours of racing. They stopped at the transition area to sleep 3 of the mandatory 10 hours they must take. Their compatriots in Tactical Foodpack were more animated and excited to be in such a high position, while Luberon MUC led the way for the French teams. Fourth to 9th places arriving into TA5 were all French teams, with 400team Altore in 4th place after taking more sleep than their rivals at an earlier transition.
Throughout the day teams continued their battle with the trek and only half of the 98 strong field is likely to make it to TA5 by nightfall - the rest will spend part, or all, of a second night in the mountains on this race-defining stage. The slower teams will have options to take short cuts designed into the route later in the race, and will be ranked below all of the full-course teams.
For some teams the challenge has already been too great. Seven teams have been moved forward on the course and the first team has withdrawn from the race. Surprisingly, it was Team Lane4 Adventure from Finland, who are the ARWS European Champions. They had failed to find one checkpoint and retired at TA5 looking dispirited and saying they couldn’t execute the race they wanted and that they preferred adventure racing with more racing and less adventure. None of the team appeared to be injured and it was a shock withdrawal by such a strong team.
Other very experienced teams voiced how tough the race is. Team Endurance, in 15th place, said it was “the hardest World championship ever”, adding “we have been racing 48 hours and it feels like 80 hours!”. Camila Nicolau for the Brazilian/Thai team Kailas Fuga agreed, “It has been hard, but we know there is a harder trekking stage to come!”
She is referring to Stage H, which includes 5000m of climbing as it crosses 5 iconic peaks, one of them being the highest on the island, Monte Cinto. In that stage there are rope challenges and canyon sections and although it is shorter than the trek teams are tackling on day 3, it is expected to take longer. Teams won’t reach there until October 5th, or October 7th for the slowest, and before that must complete a 123km mountain bike ride and a 29km sea kayak.
You can follow the progress of the remarkable teams (who are all amateur athletes) in this extraordinary sporting challenge, through the live race tracking, website and social media coverage.
www.arwc2026.com and www.arworldseries.com
#corsicaismagic #arworldseries
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