After honoring the iconic sites of French heritage during the presentation of the marathon (Castle of Versailles), the triathlon (Alexandre III Bridge) or road cycling (Montmartre Hill) of the Olympic Games (from July 26 to August 11), the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee (Cojop) rolls out the red carpet in Seine-Saint-Denis for the Paralympic edition (from August 28 to September 8).
Tuesday October 24, Cojop revealed, in the presence of Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic Sports Committee, and Stéphane Troussel, president of the Seine-Saint-Denis Departmental Council, the marathon and cycling routes on route to the Paralympic Games, fully accessible – therefore free – to the public.
The paracyclists will start first. From September 4 to 7, the 215 registrants will multiply the 13.9 kilometer loops, starting and finishing in Clichy-sous-Bois, depending on the events (individual time trials, road races and mixed relays). ) and disabilities (lower limb amputees, motor and balance disorders, visual impairment, etc.).
The route makes an incursion into Seine-et-Marne, to the east, where a first difficulty, the Côte de Courtry (1 km at 4.5%), awaits the runners. The peloton will then follow the Bernouville woods before returning to Clichy, for the most technical part of the route and a second and final difficulty, the Clichy-sous-Bois hill (850 m at 4.7%), shortly before the Red flame.
The mixed team relay will have as its playing field a loop of only 1.8 km around the Henri-Barbusse sports complex, still in the city of Seine-Seint-Denis.
The paving stones of the Champs-Elysées
Sunday September 8, for the last day of the Paralympic Games, the paramarathoners will compete on a route which will also give pride of place to the youngest department in France. Start from the Georges-Valbon park in La Courneuve, which will be a free celebration venue during the summer of 2024 – with the Champions Park at the Trocadéro, the square in front of the town hall in Paris or the France club at the Parc de La Villette. Direction Le Bourget, Drancy, Bobigny, Pantin, Aubervilliers and Saint-Denis, where the para-athletes will pass the basilica necropolis of the kings of France, then the Stade de France and the headquarters of the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Games.
After more than 26 relatively flat kilometers in Seine-Saint-Denis, the runners will tackle a final third of the race in inner Paris which promises to be nervous. On the menu: the relief of the Buttes-Chaumont, the descent towards the Saint-Martin canal on the Quai de Jemmapes, then turn right at the Bataclan towards the Place de la République and the grand boulevards. At the 35th km, a glance to the right towards the Opéra Garnier, then a little further towards the Church of the Madeleine, before diving into the Place de la Concorde, the beating heart of the Paralympic Games ceremony, eleven days earlier.
From there, the runners will take the cobblestones of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées for a false flat rise – the other difficulty of a course with 185 meters of positive altitude difference – up to the Arc de Triomphe, at the 40th km. “This will be the only event of the Paris 2024 Games which will use the Champs-Elysée in its entirety,” underlines the Organizing Committee. The final explanation could only take place in the last hectometers of the race in front of the Esplanade des Invalides, already the finish location of the Olympic marathon, on August 11.