Everything is ready for the Škoda Titan Desert Morocco 2024

Just a few hours left for the start of the Škoda Titan Desert Morocco 2024. The 452 Titans that will form the peloton are already in Boumalne Dades, ready and eager to take the start tomorrow.

Ahead of them lie 600 kilometers of challenge and over 6,000 meters of elevation gain over six stages. This is the 18th edition of one of the greatest adventures in the world and every year it is a unique spectacle.

This year there are incredible stories of overcoming, riders who seek to fulfill a vital goal, cyclists and sporting legends who test themselves in the Moroccan desert. And there is also a sporting elite. The one that will compete for the victory in the GC from Boumalne Dades to Maadid.

Today four of the main contenders for the GC have been in the press conference: Josep Betalú, Tessa Kortekaas, Konny Looser and Sergio Mantecón.

For the reigning champion of the race, Tessa Kortekaas, favoritism does not add extra pressure to her participation: “I’m in very good shape and I come really well prepared. That pressure exists, but I don’t think it can be as much as the pressure I put on myself. I run at my own pace, I like to go on my own. I haven’t even looked at the list of participants. It’s my way of racing.”

The two-time winner Škoda Titan Desert Morocco winner, Konny Looser, has done his homework and comes with all the route and participation learned: “I think almost everything will be decided in the first two stages, which are the most mountainous. It’s a terrain that suits me very well and it’s where I can make the biggest gap. I’ll try to push from the first day”.

“This year I come much more prepared than last year”, explains Josep Betalú, four-time champion of the race. ‘Beta’ makes these statements despite the fact that in 2023 he achieved a stage win and a podium in the GC. “I come very prepared. What I did last year is no good for me. Only one thing: the GC.”

With a totally different attitude comes the double Spanish cross country marathon champion Sergio Mantecón: “For me this is a totally different race from the others. I see it as both a race and an adventure. We like to experiment and try things from the beginning. When it goes well, I like it. When it goes wrong… well, not so much”.