The 16th edition of the Titan Desert will be held again in Morocco from May, 23th to 28th, 2021 with the Marathon Stage, the dunes, navigation, dromedary camels, haimas and mint tea all return. Registration are open! Next 23 May the adventure of the Titan Desert returns to its original scenario. Boumalne Dades will give the start to the 16th edition, which will finish in Maadid on 28 May. After the successful experience in Almería last November, the Titan Desert -organized by RPM-MKTG and ASO- returns to its origins, to Morocco, with its traditional format of six stages.
After the scrutineering day on Saturday 22nd May, the race will start on Sunday 23th. It will cover more than 600 km (375 miles) and will have a mountainous profile, particularly on the first two days with an elevation gain of more than 7,000 metres. The Marathon Stage will also be held -on the third day- when external assistance is prohibited and the riders must carry the material they consider necessary to spend the night.
It will be a very special edition, marked by the return to Morocco, where we will encounter the bivouacs, haimas (Bedouin tents), dromedary camels, mint tea and Tagine once again. The North African country hosted the event from its birth in 2006 until 2019, although the pandemic meant that the organization of the Titan Desert had to move the event to Almería in 2020 to be able to hold the 15th edition with guaranteed safety. Based on the experience of the Titan Desert 2020 in Almería, the organizing team will once more ensure people’s safety and health above any other consideration, to achieve a Covid-free race again.
The 16th edition has some interesting new features, such as a renewed Adventure classification, limited to 60 people, for those participants who seek an even greater challenge with more self-sufficiency and less personal comfort. A metal trunk with restricted measurements (width 45 cm / height 35 cm/ length 80 cm) will be made available to Adventure classification riders so that they can put all the things they need for the 6-day race in it. Furthermore, they may not receive mechanical assistance or physiotherapy, except from another rider in the race (lending spare parts is not allowed) or from another Adventure classification rider. This is applicable either during or outside the race, and also to the lending of spare parts. The Adventure riders will have their own areas, one for rest and the other for bike repairs. Another novelty this year is the Rookie classification; two people (their gender does not matter) who must ride together, consisting of a Titan (who finished [at least] in a previous edition) and an under-25 (rookie) born between 1997 and 2005. The two riders do not have to be related.
RPM-MKTG CEO Jesús García sends out a message of optimism in a year that has been difficult for everyone. “Getting to the end of such a hard year in which most sports events have been cancelled all over the world, and being able to plan ahead for the Titan Desert with the same energy and enthusiasm, seems to me to be a reason for celebration and pride for the entire company”. He goes on to say that “the Titan Desert will continue to grow, it will reach out to the world, crossing the sands of the most mythical deserts on the planet, but naturally without not leaving the Moroccan desert, which is the origin and the culmination of this great project for us. He announces that “we will reach out to three continents in 2021: Morocco (Africa) in May; back to the Tabernas desert in Almería (Europe) at the end of October/beginning of November, on similar dates to the edition held in 2020; and we will end the year in December in Asia with the Titan Series Saudi Arabia”.