CIVL Plenary voted and approved the bid from France to hold the 22nd FAI European Hang Gliding Class 1 Championships and the 9th FAI European Hang Gliding Class 5 Championships. The proposed dates of the event are August 2-15, 2026. The test event is being held on August 2-9. 2025. The championship is fully supported by FFVL and local authorities - the Mayor of La Roque-Esclapon, the local department “Le Var”, and the region PACA. Test Event will also serve as the 2025 French Championship.

The HQ will be located at La Roque-Esclapon, at the south-east of France, the main flying site is Mont Lachens (1714m ASL), the secondary sites are Le Chalvet (1613m ASL) and Saint André-les-Alpes, and the backup site, in case of lasting north wind, will be Montagne de Chabre (1393m ASL) in Laragne-Montéglin.

Mont Lachens (1714m ASL) will be the main flying site, it is located above the village of La Roque-Esclapon (950m ASL) at the southmost border of the beautiful and very productive flying area of the south-east of France in the Verdon Regional Park, the Azur Prealpes Regional Park and the Mercantour National Park. Being at only 30 km flying distance south of Le Chalvet (1613m ASL), Saint André-les-Alpes, another incredible free-flying spot, Mont Lachens offers a great start for cross-country flying to the East, the North, and the West.
Month Lachens is one of the oldest free-flying sites in France, it is further remote in comparison to the renowned sites of Saint André-les-Alpes at 47 km driving distance, and Laragne at 125 km, which plays against its visibility, but flying conditions are of high standard.

Experience of the past years showed that August is the best-suited month due to higher temperatures and dryer conditions. In this part of the Alpes, the cloud base increases as we go further away from the Rhône Valley and the Sea. We can expect days with strong thermals and a high cloud base. The area around Mont Lachens is closer to the sea and can have a lower cloud base than further north, this still is usually higher than 2200m ASL, but can easily be 500m lower than the rest of the day's task.