Next month, five teams will be setting off from the Corsican town of Calvi on a gruelling non-stop 180-kilometre race to the Principality in the name of the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation.
The Calvi to Monaco Water Bike Challenge will be returning to the waters of the Mediterranean Sea between 6th and 7th September.
The race, which started out on a course from Nice to the Principality, will pit five teams of four top athletes and celebrities against each other as they compete to travel back to Larvotto Beach in the fastest time possible, traversing some 180 kilometres of open sea.
The event, which is sponsored by the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, seeks to raise awareness of the charity’s international anti-drowning and sport promotion programmes, as well as generate funds for the various courses and initiatives managed by the Princess’ philanthropic platform.
See more: Photos: Princess Charlene joins Water Safety Day at lake in Landes
“Many years ago, we started throwing around the daunting idea of organising a fund-raising sporting event like no other: the crossing of the Mediterranean on water bikes,” says Gareth Wittstock, General Secretary of the Princess Charlene Foundation and the brother of Princess Charlene.
He continues, “This evolved into the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, which took place in 2017 between Nice and Monaco and in 2018 in Monaco. In 2020, the global pandemic prevented us from organising the Riviera Water Bike Challenge, which brings together a large number of participants. At that point, the original idea of the crossing resurfaced and became Calvi-Monaco.”
Water bikes are extremely stable and can reach speeds of about six knots or 13 km/h, but make no mistake, the race is hard and demands a certain amount of mental and physical stamina. The non-stop nature of the race means that participants take turns on the bikes, tackling all conditions and cycling by moonlight in order to get back to the Principality within just two days.
Over the years, a number of VIPs from the worlds of sport and celebrity have taken part, such as Princess Charlene herself, Formula 1 greats David Coulthard and Felipe Massa, model Victoria Silvstedt, Irish fighter Conor McGregor and South African sporting greats John Smit and Percy Montgomery.
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Photo credit: Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation