<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Surfers look ahead at five days of sunshine, fun waves and intense battles as the best athletes from all over Europe under the age of 18 get underway with their competitive season in the region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Brittany to Host Season Opener </strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Coming back for a third edition after two successful events in 2018 and 2019, the E.Leclerc Pont L’Abbé Junior Pro La Torche brings over 150 young surfers from all corners of the continent down to a classic destination in Northwest France.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Surfing has become a part of Brittany’s DNA with passionate crowds taking over every little wave available when the ocean wakes up and successful competitors flying the black and white local flag high in international events in recent years. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The likes of Ian Fontaine (FRA), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/gaspard-larsonneur" target="_blank">Gaspard Larsonneur</a> (FRA), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/theo-julitte" target="_blank">Theo Julitte</a> (FRA), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/aurelien-buffet" target="_blank">Aurelien Buffet</a> (FRA) or <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/maelys-jouault" target="_blank">Maelys Jouault</a> (FRA) have paved the way and helped shine light on a region still vastly underestimated on the French coastline. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now with performance training centers popping up all over, the stage is set for younger talents to come out of Brittany and make a statement on the European scene.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>5-Stop Series Takes European Youth Across Continent</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While 2020 was a year to quickly forget with most events worldwide cancelled, this season comes back with a bang for the younger competitors on an exciting 5-stop series. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Starting today in Brittany, the European Junior Qualifying Series will then take surfers to the Northern coast of Spain in July, Espinho and a second location (to be confirmed) in Portugal in September before the grand final in Southwest France in October ahead of the Challenger Series event in Capbreton, Hossegor, Seignosse.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The variety of conditions across five locations will be the perfect training ground for aspiring young professional surfers who eye the Qualifying Series down the line.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>World Junior Championships Qualifying Race Underway</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The regional Junior Qualifying Series are the very first stage in developing tiers for professional surfers worldwide, and the ultimate proving ground is the World Junior Championships usually held in the beginning of the following year.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the 2021 European JQS season wraps up in October, the Top 3 Men and Top 2 Women on the rankings will automatically qualify for the World Junior Championships. The event's location and dates are yet to be confirmed, but what is known is that it will reveal some of the brightest prospects in the world of professional surfing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Past winners of the WJC include some of the sport’s iconic names like <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/andy-irons" target="_blank">Andy Irons</a> (HAW), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/joel-parkinson" target="_blank">Joel Parkinson</a> (AUS), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/jordy-smith" target="_blank">Jordy Smith</a> (ZAF), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/gabriel-medina" target="_blank">Gabriel Medina</a> (BRA), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/sally-fitzgibbons" target="_blank">Sally Fitzgibbons</a> (AUS), <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/riders/nikki-van-dijk" target="_blank">Nikki Van Dij</a>k (AUS) and many more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For all photos, videos, news releases about the <a href="https://worldsurfleague.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c75f4cf1e19118d57c2f963e&id=e59187e995&e=2ee39f75b0" target="_blank">E.Leclerc Pont L’Abbé Junior Pro La Torche</a>, visit <a href="https://www.worldsurfleague.com/" target="_blank">worldsurfleague.com</a> and the <a href="https://worldsurfleague.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c75f4cf1e19118d57c2f963e&id=b15840bdd5&e=2ee39f75b0" target="_blank">WSL app</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The <a href="https://worldsurfleague.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9c75f4cf1e19118d57c2f963e&id=e59187e995&e=2ee39f75b0" target="_blank">E.Leclerc Pont L’Abbé Junior Pro La Torche</a> (<a href="https://www.boardriding.com/events/mens-junior-pro-la-torche-2021-tentative" target="_blank">men's</a> & <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/events/womens-junior-pro-la-torche-2021-tentative" target="_blank">women's</a>) is supported by E.Leclerc Pont L'Abbé - Région Bretagne - Département Finistère - Communauté de communes Pays Bigouden Sud - Marque bretagne, Finistère 360° - Bigoudenjoy - Team nautisme - Camping La Plage - Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne - DMD Ford Suzuki - Interface Concept - Sohoa Transition Digitale - Les Temps Gourmands - Crêperie Le Rayon Vert - La MArs,Pub Bigouden - Moken - XXIX- Twenty-Nine Surf Co. - Le Télégramme - Hit West - Ligue de Surf de Bretagne - Surf Session - ESB Surf Club among others.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For more information, please visit <a href="https://www.worldsurfleague.com/" target="_blank">WorldSurfLeague.com</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>About the WSL</strong> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Established in 1976, the <a href="https://www.boardriding.com/associations/world-surf-league" target="_blank">World Surf League (WSL)</a> is the home of the world's best surfing. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> A global sports, media and entertainment company, the WSL oversees international tours and competitions, a studios division creating over 500+ hours of live and on-demand content, and via affiliate WaveCo, the home of the world's largest high performance, human-made wave. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, the WSL has regional offices in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The WSL annually crowns the men’s and women’s surfing World Champions. The global Tours and Competition division oversees and operates more than 180 global contests each year across the Championship Tour, the development tiers, including the Challenger, Qualifying and Junior Series, as well as longboard and big wave properties. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> Launched in 2019, WSL Studios is an independent producer of unscripted television projects, including documentaries and series, which provide unprecedented access to athletes, events, and locations around the world. WSL events and content are distributed on linear television in over 743M+ homes worldwide and across digital and social media platforms around the world, including WorldSurfLeague.com. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> WaveCo includes the Surf Ranch Lemoore facility and the utilizing and licensing of the Kelly Slater Wave System.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> The WSL is dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke.</div><div style="text-align: right;">Press Release Source: www.worldsurfleague.com</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>