Beyond the Finish Line: Why France's 727 Series is the Soulful Adventure You've Been Searching For
For many of us, the search for the next ride has become a search for something more. We scroll past the start lists and podium shots, yearning for events with a story to tell, a profound sense of place, and an ethos that values community over competition. We’re looking for the rides that have soul—the ones that embed themselves in your memory long after the trail dust has settled.
In the wildly diverse Hérault region of southern France, the 727 bikepacking series has quietly become the answer to that search. Born from a love for untamed trails and an open-source spirit, it offers not just races, but invitations to connect with landscapes, with fellow riders, and with a deeper sense of adventure.
For 2026, the series is undergoing its most exciting evolution yet. From pushing frontiers into new countries to doubling down on the wild heart of its singletrack, here are the five key takeaways that define the journey ahead.
In 2026, the Gravel Route Heads for Spain
The g727, the series’ gravel epic, is taking its Hérault-born ethos of discovery and pushing the frontiers. In a significant expansion, the event on September 26, 2026, will head towards Spain, marking its first international chapter. This isn’t just a change of scenery; it’s a philosophical extension of the series’ exploratory spirit. The route is meticulously crafted for off-road aficionados who live for the dirt—and promises an adventure built on magnificent tracks and stunning, expansive landscapes.
The Signature MTB Route Is Doubling Down on Singletrack
The original 727 MTB, the rugged mountain bike heart of the series, is getting even wilder. The event on May 8, 2026, will inaugurate a brand-new MTB course, where the full 727 km distance becomes the official signature challenge, offered alongside shorter variants. For technical trail lovers, the headline is this: the new parcours is packed with 25% singletrack. This isn’t just about adding mileage; it’s a deliberate choice to deepen the rider’s immersion, creating the very “extraordinary moments of communion with nature” that lie at the core of the 727 philosophy.
The Season Opens with an Accessible Gravel Celebration
To kick off the year, the POU100 gravel event on April 4/5, 2026, offers the perfect opportunity to shake out the winter cobwebs. It’s designed as a celebration of spring riding and a perfect leg-opener for the season. True to the series’ inclusive spirit, its accessibility is a key feature, welcoming everyone with distances ranging from a 100-kilometer day loop to 250-kilometer epic, making it an ideal opener for seasoned bikepackers and newcomers alike.
This Isn’t a Race—It’s a Community-Built Exploration
What truly sets the 727 series apart is an ethos grounded in shared experience. Its origins are “Open Source,” a philosophy born when founder Thierry Crouzet, inspired by non-competitive American bikepacking events, decided to distribute the GPS tracks for free. This wasn’t just about access; it was about fostering a culture of cooperation, encounters, and fraternity over rankings and finish times.
This spirit creates a profound sense of shared ownership. Because these are not official, state-maintained routes, they rely on the community for their very existence. As Crouzet puts it, “The more bikepackers complete the 727, the more the tracks will maintain themselves.” To ride the 727 is to become a steward of the trail, not just a participant—a rare and powerful connection in the world of organized events.
The Trails Are a Journey Through Geology and Nature
A 727 route is more than a physical challenge; it is a deep immersion in time. For founder Thierry Crouzet, who created the routes to explore his own backyard, the magic is in their infinite variability. “Why ride it again?” his mother once asked him. “Because every time, it’s different,” he replied, citing shifting weather, new companions, or subtle changes in the trail.
This is a journey through geology itself. One moment you’re pedaling across Mediterranean limestone composed of ancient, giant oyster fossils from a sea that vanished 10 million years ago. The next, your tires are digging into the dark volcanic soil of the Escandorgue chain. You physically ride from a Tertiary basin into the Paleozoic era, a leap of hundreds of millions of years. It’s this profound connection to the earth beneath your wheels that offers a true disconnect from the everyday.
“That’s what we’re looking for… these extraordinary moments of communion with nature and communion with the people we ride with.”
Choose Your Path
The 2026 727 series offers a calendar of adventures built on a foundation of exploration, community, and a tangible connection to the wild. It’s a call to those who seek more than a finish line—whether that means chasing horizons on an international gravel expedition or finding flow on a singletrack epic carved through deep time.
On a landscape millions of years in the making, the only question left is: which path will you choose?