French Time Trial Championship - Thibault Guernalec: "30 kilometres can be a game-changer".
Two riders, Thibault Guernalec and Ewen Costiou, will be competing in the French Time Trial Championship for the red and black team. Michel Ries will line up at the start of the one in Luxembourg.
Pre-race
“I’ve studied the course proposed for the French Time Trial Championship, and it breaks down as follows: fairly easy at the start, and more difficult at the finish. The big change will be the distance: 30 kilometres. It’s shorter than in previous years. The FFC has aligned itself with the distances used in the major championships: Europe and the World. It’s the kind of time trial I like, and the shorter distance could make all the difference, as the race time will be fifteen minutes shorter than at the previous French championships. We’ll also have to see how I’ve recovered from the three weeks I spent racing at the Giro d’Italia. I resumed racing a fortnight before the French championships and my condition was pretty good. I can’t wait to see if all these factors come together to give me a good time”.
The briefing
“The time trial at the 2023 French Championships will be demanding, and short in terms of mileage. It’s a strong man who’s going to come out on top, a time trial specialist. However, in my opinion, the specific preparation will be less important than in the past, and it may be a little more open to a greater number of riders with rouleur qualities. A top 5 finish for Thibault would again be very satisfying. This time trial at the French Championships will also be a discovery for Ewen Costiou, who already has a solid grounding in this discipline. It will be his first experience at the highest level, with the aim of helping him to progress in the future, as was the case with Thibault Guernalec.