With the cool breeze of the Arnoia river and an air of calm tension, the 28 teams entered in the ARWS category of Raid Gallaecia 2025 began their journey this morning from the Arnoia Spa. A neutralized start served as the prologue to what is already proving to be a day of strategy, navigation, and effort.

After receiving their maps at 10:30 AM, the teams made their way to the historic center of Ribadavia, where the official race start was given at 11:00 AM, right in front of the town’s iconic castle. From that moment on, participants tackled a fast-paced score section, navigating through the old town in search of checkpoints in whichever order they chose. It was an intense and dynamic start to the competition.

Shortly after, the adventure escalated with section 2, a demanding mountain bike stagecovering 85 km, with 3,500 meters of elevation gain and 2,840 meters of descent. According to the organization’s estimates, the fastest teams could complete the section in around 8 hours.

As of this moment, the teams are deep into this mountain bike stage. The front of the pack is moving at a strong pace, and within just a 40-minute window, we find RaidAR (Poland), Endurance, Grupo Gallardo–Raza Palleira, Team Keltoi (all from Spain), and Karlstad Multisport Green (Sweden), all contending for the lead in what is shaping up to be a very tight battle.

Notably, during this mountain bike section, both Team Keltoi and Karlstad Multisport Green have chosen alternative routes on more than one occasion, deviating from the lines taken by the other front-runners. Their bold navigational choices add a layer of tactical intrigue to the race and show their confidence in strategy.

The race features 28 ARWS teams, divided into 16 four-person teams and 12 two-person teams, with participants coming from Spain, Poland, Sweden, France, and Ecuador.

Leading teams as of 5:00 PM:

• ARWS (4-person teams):

🇵🇱 RaidAR
🇪🇸 Endurance
🇪🇸 Grupo Gallardo–Raza Palleira
🇪🇸 Team Keltoi
🇸🇪 Karlstad Multisport Green
🇪🇨 4Vientos

• ARWS Couple (2-person teams):

🇪🇸 Melide Raid A.D. Cerne
🇪🇸 Hotel Nande–Talleres Mingos–Canalis
🇫🇷 Absolu Raid Occitanie
🇪🇸 Peña Guara–MERAK Team

And this is only the beginning. The race still holds many challenges ahead: night navigation, kayaking, mountain trekking and more surprises across the diverse Galician landscape, as part of the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS).

You can track the race live in real time via TrackTheRace here.

Text Credits: Raid Gallaecia Org
Photo Credits: Raid Gallaecia Org
Video Credits: Raid Gallaecia Org & TN Produccions