Would the Covid-19 have got the better of Transbaie? More than thirty years after its creation, the future of the mythical race between St-Valery and Le Crotoy is in parenthesis. After two years of cancellation due to the epidemic, the 2022 edition was to be held this Sunday, June 19, but the organizers finally threw in the towel. And the machine is now floundering in the mud.
A difficult recovery
“I don’t see myself how to restart such a business“, summarizes Denis Courtois, the founder of Transbaie, before continuing, I really have a lot of questions. Usually I already have the date for the following year, there I didn’t worry about it yet.“The race has been driven, from its inception, by an outpouring of solidarity from a group of volunteers.”We discuss it, they said to me: If you stop, we stop… So good. And then we all took a hit for thirty years.”
“I have big doubts, it’s like a spring that’s broken– Denis Courtois, founder of Transbaie
The health crisis is experienced as a rupture, a breach among the organizers that is difficult to plug. The administrative procedures are cumbersome because of the security to be ensured at the time of the race. For example, a helicopter is constantly on the alert to intervene on the bay in the event of injuries. The site, very atypical for a sporting event, also requires several precautions to reduce the impact on the environment.
Few succession candidates
After Denis Courtois, who will take over the reins of Transbaie? “Someone who takes over, like that point blank, it’s almost impossible“, estimates the founder of the race, who had created a whole dynamic around him in 1989 to carry the project. It is also complicated to find a buyer because there are only 6,500 participants.
“If you consider the Transbaie as a product, and you want to make a profit on it, it’s not the most profitable race“, analyzes Aurélie Courtois, the daughter of the founder, before continuing, it’s not the Paris marathon, where there are 50,000 participants with registration fees that are well above what we are asked for.“
The overall cost of the race is estimated at around 300,000 euros. For the moment, no organization is officially planning to take up the torch. The organizers add the heat wave of this weekend, the 2022 edition would surely have been canceled as a precaution.