PARALYMPIC MARATHON AND PARA CYCLING ROUTES

Paris 2024 has revealed the routes that will be taken by Para athletes for the Paralympic marathon and Para cycling road events. These two routes will showcase Seine-Saint-Denis, a key community for Paris 2024 and home to a number of venues for the Games, including the Aquatics Centre, the North Paris Arena, the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue, the Stade de France, the Athletes’ Village and the Media Village, as well as Pulse, the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee. They will be free to access along their entire routes, offering a golden opportunity for communities across the department to enjoy the Games experience close to their home!

The Para cycling events will take place from 4 to 7 September 2024, with a 14.2km loop and a 140m climb, starting from and finishing in Clichy-Sous-Bois, at the heart of Seine-Saint-Denis.

On the final day of the Paris 2024 Games, Sunday 8 September 2024, the Paralympic marathon runners will compete in the legendary 42.195km race on a route that includes a 185m climb and embodies Paris 2024, linking Seine-Saint-Denis, the department at the heart of the Games, and Central Paris.

Paralympic Marathon

Flat start in Seine-Saint-Denis

After setting out from La Courneuve, in Georges-Valbon park , the T12 and T54 class Paralympic athletes will head towards Le Bourget. They will then cross Seine-Saint-Denis and pass through Drancy and Bobigny, where the Paralympic athletes will run past PRISME , a major metropolitan hub for inclusive sport; guided by the principle of universal accessibility, this sports hub, which will open its doors in 2024, will welcome people with and without disabilities without any distinction.

Find out more about paralympic classification

After passing through Pantin, the Paralympic marathon runners will then head back to Saint-Denis, arriving from the south-east and passing in front of Saint-Denis Basilica then the Stade de France, from the Saint-Denis Canal docks area.

The route will then take them to Aubervilliers, offering an opportunity for them to see Pulse , the headquarters of Paris 2024’s Organising Committee , established in Saint-Denis since 2021. After more than 26 very quick and virtually flat kilometres in Seine-Saint-Denis, the Paralympic marathon will enter Paris through Porte d’Aubervilliers and embark on the final part of the race, with two challenging sections awaiting the athletes.

Picture by Pulse – headquarters of Paris 2024’s Organising Committee. Credit : BFV architectes-Icade-Paris 2024

FINAL SECTION IN PARIS

With two major hurdles, Buttes-Chaumont and the Champs-Élysées

After crossing Seine-Saint-Denis, Buttes-Chaumont Park and the Champs-Elysées will spice up the end of the race and make up the lion’s share of its 185m climb. These two challenges will leave the Paralympic marathon runners little time to take in the capital’s iconic spaces and monuments that will feature along this final section, from Buttes-Chaumont to Canal Saint-Martin, the Grands Boulevards, Palais Garnier and La Madeleine Church.

As they get close to the final 5km, the runners will pass through Place de la Concorde, the venue for the Paralympic Games opening ceremony 11 days earlier, before heading up the Champs-Elysées and its cobbles to run around the Arc de Triomphe, the final challenge as they approach the 40km mark. The Paralympic marathon will be the only event in the Paris 2024 Games to run the entire length of the Champs-Elysées.

The race will end in front of the Esplanade des Invalides, in the 7^th arrondissement, on Paris’ Left Bank, which will also be the finish line for the Olympic marathon.

Discover the Paralympic marathon route here

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Watch the video of the route

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS

Showcase for the Para cycling road events

In the same way as the Paralympic marathon, the route for the Para cycling Road events will celebrate Seine-Saint-Denis, a department that is more than ever at the heart of the Games. Clichy-sous-Bois has been chosen as the location for the start and finish of the route for the Para cycling Road time trial and team relay events.

As usual with the Paralympic Games and the Para cycling events, Paris 2024 offers a 14.2km route which makes it possible to adapt the number of laps and therefore the distance to be raced for each event and each category (H,T,C and B).

Find out more about paralympic classification

On Boulevard Emile Zola, opposite the Henri Barbusse sports complex, the riders will leave Clichy-sous-Bois and head east through Bondy forest. The route will quickly take the Para cyclists into the Coubron district, on a straight and flat road, alternating between urban and rural sections.

The 14.2km route, which includes a 140m climb, will see the Para cyclists race from Clichy-Sous-Bois to Coubron, before reaching the Seine-et-Marne. The particularly challenging sections will start when they enter the town of Courtry, beginning with Courtry Hill (1km at 4.5%). The riders will then head back towards Clichy-sous-Bois, taking the “strategic road” alongside Bois de Bernouille Forest, and face the route’s final challenging section, Clichy-sous-Bois Hill, with an 850m climb at 4.7%. The mixed team relay event will feature an even more dynamic route over 1.8km, at the heart of Clichy-sous-Bois around the Henri Barbusse sports complex.

From 4 to 7 September 2024, the route for Paris 2024’s Para cycling Road events will offer spectators four action-packed days of sport, with 7 to 10 hours of competitions every day. As with the Paralympic marathon, the roadsides will be freely accessible for spectators, offering opportunities for as many people as possible to cheer on the Para cyclists, admire their performances and be part of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.