Ultra-trail : Sébastien Raichon remporte l’impitoyable Winter Spine Race, considérée comme « la Barkley anglaise »

<p>Il fallait être sacrément blindé, dans la tête et dans les jambes, pour aller au bout de la folle aventure de la <a href="https://www.outside.fr/ultra-trail-pourquoi-linfernale-winter-spine-race-affiche-complet-chaque-annee/">Winter Spine Race</a> et de ses 430 km, cette semaine dans le nord de l’Angleterre. Suivant le si exigeant <a href="https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/pennine-way/">Pennine Way</a>, cette course d’<a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/sport/ultra-trail/">ultra-trail</a> aux 9.500 m de dénivelé positif a ainsi viré au calvaire XXL pour la dernière nuit, avec une tempête de neige et des températures atteignant les -10°C.</p><figure><iframe title="UTMB 2025: Découvrez l'ambiance d'un ravitaillement décisif pour les derniers coureurs" width="100%" height="100%" src="https://www.ultimedia.com/deliver/generic/iframe/mdtk/01357940/zone/1/src/30vzxrk/showtitle/1/" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe></figure><p>L&#x27;Américain John Kelly, triple finisher de <a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/sport/4028523-20230319-ultra-trail-aurelien-sanchez-premier-francais-finir-barkley-vu-course-demente-comme-jeu">la mythique Barkley</a> (200 km et 20.000 m de D +), et le Britannique Chris Cope, tenant du titre, avaient déjà abandonné depuis plusieurs jours, et Eugeni Rosello Sole semblait promis à la victoire finale mercredi soir. Sauf que la dernière nuit a été fatale au coureur espagnol, contraint de jeter l’éponge à son tour face au froid dantesque.</p><h2>Premier finisher de la Chartreuse Terminorum</h2><p>Impressionnant de bout en bout depuis le départ au sud de <a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/dossier/manchester">Manchester</a> dimanche, l’aventurier et ultra-traileur français <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sebastien_raichon/">Sébastien Raichon</a> en a profité pour franchir la ligne d’arrivée le premier, ce jeudi matin, avec à la clé un prestigieux sacre en 95h43&#x27;52&#x27;&#x27; (soit quasiment quatre jours, à 16 minutes près).</p><figure><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DTh5NcKDdpb/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a></div></blockquote> <script async src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script></figure><p>Avec sa forte expérience des contextes extrêmes, le Vauclusien de 53 ans ajoute une nouvelle ligne marquante à son CV, après notamment un statut de <a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/sport/4041889-20230619-ultra-trail-incroyable-premiere-cinq-mutants-venus-bout-chartreuse-terminorum-moins-80-heures">premier finisher de l’histoire de la Chartreuse Terminorum</a> en 2023 et une troisième victoire finale <a href="https://www.lequipe.fr/Ultra-trail/Actualites/Sebastien-raichon-s-adjuge-le-tor-des-glaciers-450-km-apres-124-heures-et-pour-la-3e-fois/1594515">sur le Tor des Glaciers</a> (435 km, 35.500 m de D +) en septembre 2025.</p><figure><a href="https://www.20minutes.fr/sport/ultra-trail/">Notre dossier sur l'ultra-trail</a></figure><p>« J’ai pris mon rythme de sénateur, souriait Sébastien Raichon à l’arrivée. J’ai des bobos hein, mais j’ai géré ! On a tout eu pendant quatre jours : rafales à 80 km/h, pluie verglaçante, neige, champs de boue… » Et oui, cette Winter Spine Race n’est pas surnommée pour rien « la Barkley anglaise » après tout.</p>