One of the most anticipated SUP race of the year just finished in Spain. The EURO TOUR longdistance SUP race was held under rather difficult conditions. The race course around the island looked rather choppy with wind from all sorts of directions. The athletes sure had their work cut out for them. In the forefront of the race all eyes were on a possible head to head race between Fiona Wylde, who made her return to the international stage after having to sit out a season with shoulder injury and Esperanza Barreras.
Things however turned out a bit different from what SUP Race fans had anticipated. In hindsight the only surprise was Fiona missing the podium by almost 3.5 minutes. It was clear that Espe would go into the race as a favorite and she once again proved her dominance. Winning the race with a lead 1:51 minutes showed once again her strength. With Duna Gordillo at the Carolina Cup this opened the door for Alba Frey to move into second. Alba was 3rd at the EURO TOUR in Ceuta behind Duna and Espe but we missed her in Sevilla at the EURO TOUR stopp #2.
The field behind Esperanza is getting stacked.
Only 20 seconds behind Alba came Cecilia Pampinella across the finish line and shortly after that it was Anna Tschirky followed by Melanie Lafenetre. With this situation the women SUP racing will be ver suspenseful this season. The girls behind Esperanza are all every strong. How long will Espe be able to keep them all in check and who will be the the solid number two for the season 2023. We are alerady looking forward to the next race when they all meet up.
As far as Fiona goes, sitting out a season is taking a toll on people and she is being met with a full set of new, young and hungry paddle ladies. If she is looking to defend her ICF World Titles she will have to get past these strong ladies and rise to her old form.
Women EURO TOUR results
| Place | Name | Time | Category |
| 1 | ESPE BARRERAS | 1:27:18 | ELITE |
| 2 | ALBA FREY | 1:29:09 | ELITE |
| 3 | CECILIA PAMPINELLA | 1:29:29 | ELITE Junior |
| 4 | ANNA TSCHIRKY | 1:29:42 | ELITE |
| 5 | MELANIE LAFENETRE | 1:30:17 | ELITE |
| 6 | Fiona Wilde | 1:33:04 | ELITE |
| 7 | Juliette Du Haime | 1:34:03 | ELITE |
| 8 | MARIECARMEN RIVERA | 1:35:20 | ELITE |
| 9 | IONA RIVET | 1:36:25 | ELITE |
| 10 | SUSAK MOLINERO | 1:37:09 | ELITE |
| 11 | ERICA REVIL | 1:37:26 | ELITE |
| 12 | CHIARA VORSTER | 1:40:07 | ELITE Junior |
| 13 | Inés Blin | 1:40:13 | ELITE Junior |
| 14 | AINHOA RIVAS | 1:41:41 | ELITE Junior |
| 15 | AGATHE RODIER | 1:42:01 | ELITE |
| 16 | LAURA DAL PONT | 1:44:50 | ELITE |
| 17 | VERONICA SILVA | 1:46:33 | ELITE |
| 18 | Teresa Criado | 1:46:44 | ELITE Junior |
| 19 | Csillag Kocsis | 1:47:05 | ELITE Junior |
| 20 | ELEN ETXEBERRIA | 1:47:40 | ELITE Junior |
| 21 | LIDVINA CHAMPENDAL | 1:53:42 | ELITE Master |
| 22 | PALOMA PORTA | 1:54:28 | ELITE Junior |
| 23 | PATRICIA MORENO | 1:57:07 | ELITE |
| 24 | YVI MAHONEY | 1:59:23 | ELITE Master |
| 25 | EDITH TEULADE | 1:59:29 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 26 | EMMANUELLE MARCON | 1:59:34 | Kahuna fem |
| 27 | LAURA BACCARO | 2:00:41 | ELITE Master |
| 28 | NATALIA FON | 2:03:10 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 29 | Elena Romero | 2:04:46 | ELITE Master |
| 30 | KATRINE BERGMANN | 2:06:07 | ELITE Junior |
| 31 | MAJA DOLžAN | 2:06:07 | ELITE |
| 32 | Eva Giner | 2:09:23 | ELITE Master |
| 33 | Eva Ruiz | 2:09:51 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 34 | SABINE FISCHER | 2:12:54 | ELITE |
On the men side thing went pretty much as predicted. Noic Garioud came to Europe to win and he is doing just that. He won his second EURO TOUR race, but not so fast: His dominance was almost jeopardized by the Japanese standout and somewhat of an enigma: Shury “Shrimpy” Araki. This kid came only 27 seconds across the finish behind Noic but 50 seconds in front of the 3rd Clement Colmas. We might even see him winning over Noic sometime this year if he keeps paddling like this. For now it looks like Titouan Puyo has handed over the torch pretty well to his fellow New Caledonian “Kagu”.
Men EURO TOUR results
| Place | Name | Time | Category |
| 1 | NOïC GARIOUD | 1:12:29 | ELITE |
| 2 | SHURI ARAKI | 1:12:56 | ELITE Junior |
| 3 | CLéMENT COLMAS | 1:13:44 | ELITE |
| 4 | RAI TAGUCHI | 1:14:39 | ELITE |
| 5 | BRUNO HASULYO | 1:15:32 | ELITE |
| 6 | TY JUDSON | 1:15:50 | ELITE |
| 7 | LUDOVIC TEULADE | 1:16:09 | ELITE |
| 8 | DONATO FREENS | 1:16:20 | ELITE Junior |
| 9 | DAVIDE ALPINO | 1:16:45 | ELITE |
| 10 | FERNANDO PEREZ | 1:17:05 | ELITE |
| 11 | Anastasios Tsouris | 1:17:20 | ELITE |
| 12 | Arthur Arutkin | 1:17:30 | ELITE |
| 13 | ANTONIO MORILLO | 1:17:30 | ELITE |
| 14 | CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN | 1:18:04 | ELITE |
| 15 | Iván de Frutos | 1:19:53 | ELITE Junior |
| 16 | PAOLO MARCONI | 1:20:05 | ELITE |
| 17 | BLUE EWER | 1:20:20 | ELITE |
| 18 | RICCARDO ROSSI | 1:20:33 | ELITE |
| 19 | Rafael Sirvent | 1:20:54 | ELITE |
| 20 | JOAN GARCíA | 1:21:12 | ELITE Junior |
| 21 | OLLIE HOUGHTON | 1:21:52 | ELITE |
| 22 | TOMáS LACERDA | 1:22:30 | ELITE |
| 23 | AUGUSTO GARCíA | 1:22:38 | ELITE Junior |
| 24 | Leo Nika | 1:23:21 | ELITE |
| 25 | Joao Guilherme | 1:23:52 | ELITE Junior |
| 26 | PIERRE DE BOIS | 1:24:14 | ELITE Master |
| 27 | TOMMASO PAMPINELLA | 1:24:32 | ELITE |
| 28 | MANUEL HOYUELA | 1:24:47 | ELITE |
| 29 | SIMON ACKERMANN | 1:25:11 | ELITE Junior |
| 30 | LOïS CHARDEBAS | 1:25:54 | ELITE |
| 31 | LINUS KARLSSON | 1:26:24 | ELITE |
| 32 | Lucas Correa | 1:26:42 | ELITE |
| 33 | TOMAS GROSUP | 1:27:44 | ELITE |
| 34 | RUI RAMOS | 1:27:45 | ELITE Master |
| 35 | OLIVIER DARRIEUMERLOU | 1:27:48 | ELITE Master |
| 36 | SALVADOR MORA | 1:27:53 | ELITE Master |
| 37 | Ivan Esteve | 1:28:45 | ELITE Junior |
| 38 | Vincent Guillaume | 1:28:45 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 39 | BEñAT VILLAGARCIA | 1:29:33 | ELITE |
| 40 | BRARD LOUKA | 1:30:04 | ELITE Junior |
| 41 | HUGO COUD | 1:30:36 | ELITE |
| 42 | Nikos Varlas | 1:30:39 | ELITE |
| 43 | UNAX ETXEBERRIA | 1:31:10 | ELITE Junior |
| 44 | ANTONIO SERRERA | 1:31:52 | ELITE |
| 45 | IKER BARBARRUBIO | 1:32:29 | ELITE Master |
| 46 | SALVADOR RIBES | 1:32:47 | ELITE |
| 47 | MANUEL DIEZ | 1:33:22 | ELITE |
| 48 | Andrés Martínez | 1:34:01 | ELITE Master |
| 49 | BOJAN BERNARD | 1:34:04 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 50 | LUIS RAMOS | 1:34:18 | ELITE |
| 51 | MAUI SACH | 1:34:52 | ELITE |
| 52 | MARC FORASTER | 1:35:25 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 53 | Isaac Martínez | 1:36:17 | ELITE Junior |
| 54 | SANTI CANTO | 1:36:28 | ELITE Master |
| 55 | TOMAS LELOVITS | 1:36:42 | ELITE Master |
| 56 | ANTON SANS | 1:36:47 | ELITE |
| 57 | Jorge Soler | 1:37:05 | ELITE Junior |
| 58 | Dan Miller | 1:37:25 | ELITE Master |
| 59 | Teo Ugeda | 1:37:50 | ELITE |
| 60 | JULIO PÉREZ | 1:38:06 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 61 | Zeno Szabo | 1:38:36 | ELITE Junior |
| 62 | FILIPPO ALBERTI | 1:39:16 | ELITE |
| 63 | EUSEBIO RODRÍGUEZ | 1:39:26 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 64 | Martin Andersen | 1:39:45 | ELITE Master |
| 65 | Eduardo Diaz | 1:39:50 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 66 | JAVIER MORENO | 1:40:01 | ELITE Master |
| 67 | LUKA KOŽAR | 1:40:08 | ELITE |
| 68 | Fofi Recio | 1:41:05 | ELITE Master |
| 69 | Alejandro Botella Costa | 1:41:13 | ELITE |
| 70 | SEBASTIáN MONSERRAT | 1:41:23 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 71 | Quique Sánchez | 1:42:13 | ELITE Junior |
| 72 | BORJA FERNÁNDEZ | 1:42:44 | ELITE Master |
| 73 | CLEMENTE PÉREZ | 1:43:15 | ELITE |
| 74 | Javier Coloma | 1:43:46 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 75 | ALLAIN HERMANN | 1:43:49 | ELITE |
| 76 | GUILLERMO GOYANES | 1:45:13 | ELITE |
| 77 | MIGUEL MARTORELL | 1:45:31 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 78 | JACOBO FERNANDEZ | 1:47:15 | ELITE |
| 79 | RUBEN SALGADO | 1:47:48 | ELITE Junior |
| 80 | MATHIEU ACKERMANN | 1:47:51 | ELITE Master |
| 81 | JORGE INFANTE | 1:48:18 | ELITE |
| 82 | MARTIN SÁNCHEZ | 1:48:42 | ELITE |
| 83 | Javier Cantoral | 1:48:47 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 84 | NATHAN DENIS | 1:50:54 | ELITE Junior |
| 85 | Sebastian Fernandez | 1:51:49 | ELITE Master |
| 86 | Teofilo Ugeda | 1:52:33 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 87 | ARTEM AVRAMENKO | 1:53:51 | ELITE Master |
| 88 | Jesús Martínez | 1:54:07 | ELITE |
| 89 | Alejandro Alonso | 2:00:08 | ELITE Kahuna |
| 90 | Alberto Rodriguez | 2:05:05 | ELITE Kahuna |
All the results are representing a great picture of the SUP Sport. We are counting over 100 very enthusiastic and active paddlers. The SUP race sport is in good health. We are already getting a good picture of who are the strongest paddlers of the year and hope we will see all the same names plus some more as the EURO TOUR moves on to more central European locations towards the summer.