The victory was played for a few centimeters and less than a second, this Friday afternoon, during the last test of the Chrono 47. In the N2, it was indeed the UC Cholet 49 which dethroned the specialists of the Marni’N’Side team, the winners the previous two years, after a little more than an hour of effort (see classification). “It is a big relief and great satisfaction. We were not too confident after the team times of the past few years. It’s great to win”welcomes Directive Alban Launay, the sports director of the Maine-et-Loire club. This success owes nothing to chance. “We have prepared it for a long time, we had already made simulations in Spain, explains Valérian Lajaunias, one of the six runners who was present on the Lot-et-Garonne roads. We have been thinking of this time since the start of the season. We have refined the team over time to choose the six most homogeneous guys. We made a real simulation during a chrono internship, with a warm-up on home trainer and 40 minutes of effort ”.
The Marni-N’side team was ahead of the two intermediaries
In addition, apart from Léo-Paul Jamin, the other five aligned runners had already played a team lap at the start of the year, at the Vendée beaches. “We really worked well, we knew what watts we had to set up the bumps so as not to get the box fart. Everyone was really involved, it’s great”takes up the 21 -year -old runner. Léo-Paul Jamin was quickly distant from the group but the five other elements of the team managed to “Stay homogeneous” throughout the route. Paul Conor and Valérian Lajaunias have “Extended the relays to relieve others”. And while Cholet had a time about fifteen seconds late on the Marni’N’side team, the Red-and-Blanc managed to fill this gap in the last kilometers. “We made a cannon end, it’s incredible! It’s deserved compared to all the work done upstream, it’s great for runners as for the staff”adds Valérian Lajaunias, who was also able to count on the support and experience of Thomas Garel. “He told us how to manage in the climbs, we listened to him, he was our landmark”.
Specialist in the discipline, the Marni-N’side team had also prepared the event as it should be. “We did an intensive preparation course with us in Vittel”explains the man at the head of the structure, Valéry Vermion. “We had won the last two editions. This is an exercise that we like, our four Quebecers love the time”. The hard core had been formed since the start of the season but the addition of the last elements was decided ten days ago. “We lost two runners too early. Romain (Krier) after 16 km and Mathis (Beurville) after 26 terminals. We made a long end of the way and that, necessarily, it penalized us”concedes the manager, necessarily frustrated to fail for seven tenths of a second.
A ranking fixed until August
The podium is completed today by the GSC Blagnac vs 31 by Clément Le Boez. “The strategy was to take relays of 20-30 seconds each, even if Cyril Couture ended up lengthening the relays because it was strong. We tried to be homogeneous as long as possible”says the runner. The Haut-Garonnais club had to compose without its usual engine element, Gauthier Navarro, replaced by Maël Rouanet. We hoped to hold at six until km 25 and finally, we managed to stay all together almost to the end ”. Jonathan Lebreton then Maël Le Boez dropped at the end of the race but Blagnac is satisfied with a “belle perf” collective. “We didn’t make too many mistakes, it was a fairly clean time, we are in our place”.
The three best teams in this time 47 are also the first three in the general classification of the French Cup after four rounds. “This victory allows us to resume a small mattress in advance”rejoices Alban Launay, the sports director of Cholet. Inevitably, Valéry Vermion is less enthusiastic when commenting on the updated classification (see here). “Accounting level, it’s not good. Cholet takes over points when at the near seven tenths, we would have come back nearby. But if we look at the good side of things, we can still satisfy points to all our other opponents”. The battle is not over and it promises to be beautiful until the end. “Nothing is done. We will still have much to face Marni-N’side, Blagnac and even Pélussin. They have strong runners. It promises a good end of the French Cup”brother Aban Layay. “So business to follow!”. Next meeting in New Aquitaine, again, for the price of Saint-Sulpice-les-Feuilles. But it will be necessary to wait until … August 3 for a new act of this red thread of the season, then patience.
