Sixth French title for Clément Venturini
After a suspenseful and breathless race, Clément Venturini won his sixth French Championship title in a sprint in Camors.
Amandine Fouquenet was runner-up in the French Elite Women’s Championship, with Anais Morichon 3rd.
“Every year, I start the French Championship as if I hadn’t won it. It’s normal for some people for me to win this race, but it would also be normal for me to lose it. Nothing is written in advance in sport. Every victory in the French Championship is important to me, and in all honesty, this one brings me a lot of emotions, firstly for my new team ARKEA-B&B HOTELS, but also on a personal level. I put myself in my bubble straight away. I did my race without worrying about the other competitors. I told myself it’s an hour, a time trial and you do your race. At one point I had a mechanical problem. I thought Joshua Dubau was going to take advantage of it. But I didn’t give up. I came back on him, and at that moment, in my mind, it was all about the sprint. I used up a lot of energy after my chain jump, but it also gave me rage. I didn’t want to give up. I set my sights very high for this title. Emotionally, it means a lot. Rémi (Lelandais) is 2nd, Amandine and Anaïs are on the podium too… It’s a big weekend for ARKEA-B&B HOTELS. Now it’s on to the international events, in particular the World Championship on 4 February in Tabor, Czech Republic. As I’ve already said, if I could finish my career with a medal at international level, that would be the Holy Grail of cyclo-cross for me.
“Hélène and I had a great battle. I stayed within fifteen seconds of her without ever being able to close the gap. I made a few technical errors and, on a course like this, mistakes like that can cost you the race. Physically, I came back on her, but you don’t close a gap like that just like that. A lot of people came out for me. I’m second, which shows that I’m in good shape. Now there are other goals to achieve and I want to focus on them.
“I quickly found myself in contention for the bronze medal, and it was a race of waiting until the end with my direct opponent. I hesitated to attack her. I went on the offensive on the final asphalt section. I gave it my all and that enabled me to make the difference, which I maintained right to the finish. The crowd was really behind the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team and I’m delighted to finish on the podium. I had prepared myself for this and I succeeded. It’s my very first podium in cyclo-cross, and that’s satisfying.”
“What a weekend! A title, two silver medals and a bronze! The very first French Cyclo-cross Championship for the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team will go down in history as an unforgettable moment, especially as these fine performances were achieved on home soil in Camors, Brittany. Clément Venturini won the title of French Elite Champion for the sixth time after a race run as the ‘boss’ of the discipline. He suffered a technical problem, but never gave up and came out on top in the sprint. Amandine Fouquenet and Anaïs Morichon both finished on the Elite Women’s podium, while Rémi Lelandais, second in the U23 category, kicked off our medal haul in Morbihan on Saturday. Cyclo-cross is a discipline in which we have decided to invest, and in our first year in the sport, we have been very satisfied, confirming our decision in favour of this winter sport, which also trains the good road racers of tomorrow.”