After a pass-through of the region, the Morocco Desert Challenge has tweaked the route for the 2025 race, leaving it at a final length of 3,177 kilometers.

The race will still start in Agadir before finishing in Ouarzazate. The distance is the longest in the MDC’s history to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

“With nearly 400 km per day – 85% of which is against the clock – both man and machine will be pushed to their limits, but the emotions at the finish line will be all the greater,” reads a statement from organizers. “After two reconnaissance rounds, our sports director Jean-Claude Kaket announced that the race track will also be slightly modified.”

The biggest change is that the marathon bivouac near Guelta Zemmur, which was supposed to be the finish of Stage #4 and start of Stage #5, has been removed. Those legs, respectively 420 and 153 kilometers long in timed sections, have been condensed into a single 527-kilometer stage. As a result, the new marathon stage will start in Boujdour and finish in Smara.

MDC officials explained this change was done to “add extra dunes to the route. The reason? To add extra dunes to the route. Following a second passage on day 6, this adjustment creates space for an additional loop (the only one) on day 7, during which participants will spend most of the stage in the dunes of Erg Chegaga.”

Revised route

Stage	Start	Finish	Selective Sections	Road Sections	Date
1	Agadir	Plage Blanche	111 km	214 km	April 5
2	Plage Blanche	Laayoune	314 km	118 km	April 6
3	Laayoune	Boujdour	332 km	62 km	April 7
4	Boujdour	Smara	TBA	TBA	April 8–9
5	Smara	Assa	395 km	TBA	April 10
6	Assa	Foum Zguid	377 km	155 km	April 11
7	Foum Zguid	Ouarzazate	148 km	216 km	April 12

Featured image credit: Morocco Desert Challenge