The full team line-up has been confirmed for The Crossing 2026, the water bike relay across the Mediterranean organised by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, which departs from Viareggio in Italy on Friday 19th June and arrives at Larvotto beach in Monaco on Saturday 20th June.
Seven teams of four athletes — 28 participants in total — will take on the 225-kilometre crossing through the Pelagos Sanctuary, a protected marine area spanning France, Monaco and Italy. Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene will give the starting signal from the Club Nautico di Viareggio on Friday.
The teams
Team Serenity brings together Gareth Wittstock, Princess Charlene’s brother and Secretary General of her Foundation, alongside four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, former French Cameroonian heavyweight world title contender Carlos Takam, and Kevin Crovetto.
TC Racing fields two of the most decorated names in the professional peloton: Danish Grand Tour winner Jakob Fuglsang and Italian classics specialist Filippo Pozzato, joined by Denis Shadlov and Christos Fiotakis. Fuglsang won the 2019 Criterium du Dauphine and a stage at the Tour de France, while Pozzato was one of Italy’s most celebrated one-day racers of the 2000s.
Scuderia Monte-Carlo features Ferrari factory driver and 2023 Le Mans 24 Hours overall winner Alessandro Pier Guidi alongside Guido Giovannelli, Francesco Castellacci and Gianfranco Spallarossa.
Team Lionheart is made up of Swedish Olympic cyclists Gustav Larsson and Veronika Larsson, alongside Alex Bennett and Jeremy Josserand. Rock to Rock Mangusta features Jacopo Marzocco, Alexandre Baccili, Jean-Baptiste Pastor and Anthony Roustan. Team Galenic brings together freediving world record holder Pierre Frolla, Loulou Fuglsang, Cyrius Monk and Megan Monk. The Gouvernement team comprises Geoffrey Espigue, Nicolas Collet, Bruno Chapot and Jean-François Sehan.
The event
Now in its third edition, The Crossing this year marks the first formal collaboration between the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, a partnership sealed at the Monaco Blue Initiative in May. The relay format sees each team member rotate continuously across the 24-hour crossing, using water bikes — floating structures built around a cycling-style pedalling mechanism.
The route passes through the Pelagos Sanctuary, one of the largest marine protected areas in Europe, recognised for its populations of dolphins, fin whales and sperm whales. The event raises awareness for drowning prevention — the core mission of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, which operates in 45 countries and has reached more than two million beneficiaries — and for marine conservation, the focus of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
To donate and support your team, visit: https://togethercrossing.fondationprincessecharlene.mc/
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Photo credit: Manuel Vitali, Government Communications Department