Spectacular videos of France's toughest dog sled race

One of the world's toughest alpine dog sledding races got under way in the Haute-Savoie region of eastern France at the weekend.

More than 50,000 spectators come to watch the Grande Odyssée Savoie Mont-Blanc every year, which features more than 400 dogs and 25 mushers from all over the world.

The annual race kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony, when race spectators were able to get as close as possible to the action.

The race proper began on Sunday with the first of 10 stages. Here are two films from the day's racing.

You can follow the race every day by logging on to the race's website or Facebook page