The new you starts with a sporting goal – mark one of these in your calendar now.

After a prolonged period of festive quaffing and scoffing, the only thing left to do is roll off the sofa and sign up to a mammoth fitness challenge that will shake you out of your self-induced food fog. The London Marathon ballot is long gone, so what else can you take on that will rid you of that pork-pie belly and return you to the prized specimen of a man you once were? We’ve scoured the race calendars for the best new fitness events launching in 2019. Put the Baileys down, there’s work to do…

13 April

Launching in April, Spain’s Iberica Traversa is an “unsupported” bike race, meaning it eschews the help of marshals, medics and water stations in favour of an independent ride guided only by GPS. Beginning in Tarifa and winding 1,190km north-east to Valencia, the event has been organised by Swiss long-distance cyclist Mr Andy Buchs, who was inspired by riding the US’s Trans Am Bike Race and Kyrgyzstan’s Silk Road Mountain Race. If you’re feeling brave, Iberica Traversa also has an extended route that starts in Tarifa but ends 1,900km later in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, just over the French border. There’s no official winner or prize money – only the deep sense of achievement that you cycled thousands of kilometres with no support and hopefully no puncture.

iberica-traversa.com

22-28 April

Now in its third year, Chia Sport Week is a multi-discipline event held at Sardinia’s Chia Laguna Resort. Along with the usual triathlon, half marathon and gran fondo (a long-distance bike ride), this year sees the addition of a new open water swimming competition. Held on 26 April, there will be three distances – 1.9km, 3.8km and 5km – all taking place in the pristine waters off Dune di Campana beach. After you’ve thrashed your way round the course, you can retire to the bar or spa at Chia Laguna Resort, which is offering a three-night package for €116 per person, per night, full board, during the event.

chiasportweek.it

chialagunaresort.com

14 September

Quest specialises in one-day, multi-discipline events in outstanding countryside. Its new challenge is a run, cycle and kayak race around Lough Derg, a vast, sparkling lake on the border of counties Clare, Galway and Tipperary. Over 1,000 competitors are expected to take part in the race, which will be split into three distances: 22km, 57km and 69km. Not sure where to place yourself? The organisers say the level of fitness required to compete in the lowest distance is similar to that required to run a 10km run. Easy. Sort of. Race entry includes kayak rental and hot tubs at the finish line.

questadventureseries.com

29 September – 9 October

Skyline’s modus operandi is impressive, mass participation events. Case in point: its big launch for 2019 is an 11-day cycle through Vietnam and Cambodia. A group ride, rather than a race, the event starts in Ho Chi Minh City, heads south to Tra Vinh, Can Tho and Cai Rang, and then over the border into Cambodia, to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. You’ll cycle 60-90km a day, and will be given a training plan to help you prepare for the event. Bikes and accommodation are also arranged by Skyline.

skylineevents.co.uk

2-10 November

If you’ve always wanted to tackle an ultra-marathon, Ultra X’s new race in Mexico will take some beating. Competitors will run 250km over five days, through the state of Chihuahua, running 40-70km a day and sleeping in bivouac tents. The area is home to the Rarámuri, a group of indigenous people famous for long distance running in huaraches and part of the race weaves through Copper Canyon – a jaw-droppingly gorgeous place popularised by Mr Chris McDougall's 2009 book Born To Run. Entrants must supply their own food, but Ultra X will organise airport transfers, accommodation, luggage transport between stages and race support.

ultra-x.co/mexico

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