The fourth round of the French Grand Prix took place at the weekend in Quiberon.
After a win in the previous round in Metz, Les Sables Vendée Triathlon stood as the closest challengers to Poissy Triathlon in the women’s competition. The gap, however, stood at a daunting 10 points. Meanwhile, Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée Triathlon led Poissy by 4 points going into Quiberon in the men’s standings.
The racing, then, would prove vital in determining how alive the series would be going into the final round.
Women’s race
The athletes made the long run from the beach into the Atlantic to get the race underway. Zsanett Bragmayer (Metz Triathlon) led the wetsuit swim of 750m in a time of 9:58. Margot Garabedian (Metz) was right on her feet but the field in general was quite stretched.
Lea Marchal (Tri Val de Gray) was the fifth woman out of the water and was the last to emerge within 10 seconds of Bragmayer.
With the bit between her teeth, the Hungarian tore up the road. She soon opened up a 20 second lead on the bike and forced those behind to chase. The bike course was a slightly long 22.8km which played a little more into the hands of the chasers. Bragmayer, though, was determined not to be denied.
Among the large chase group, the likes of Audrey Merle (Issy Triathlon), Valentina Riasova (Les Sables Vendée) and Maria Tomé (Valence Triathlon) were ideally positioned as the pack began to reel in Bragmayer. With their running speed, they appeared the primary threats to the podium.
The Poissy trio of Natalie Van Coevorden, Ilona Hadhoum and Lea Coninx got through plenty of work on the bike. Kristelle Congi (Poissy) was likewise in and around the front of the group.
Eventually, Bragmayer was caught and a group of twenty-seven women arrived into T2 together.
Audrey Merle struck ahead with Congi and Hadhoum although Riasova and Diana Isakova (Les Sables Vendée) soon took over. The Russian pair were indomitable on the run. Just as they had in Metz, they put the field to the sword.
Riasova had too much speed for her teammate in the final stages and broke clear to take the win by 10 seconds. Her split of 16:57 was the best of the day and the only time under 17 minutes. Isakova followed in 2nd while Kira Hedgeland (Triathlon Club Liévin) produced a massive 5km split to seize 3rd place.
Tomé was the next woman home, ahead of Merle.
In the overall race, Poissy just edged out Liévin while Les Sables Vendée took 3rd. With victory secured, Poissy had all but confirmed their status as champions in 2023.
Men’s race
The men did not face the easiest conditions in the water but the bulk of the field navigated the sea well.
Leo Ouabadesselam (Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée) led Tom Richard (Poissy), Jamie Riddle (Liévin) and Miguel Tiago Silva (Montluçon Triathlon) into T1. Despite their best efforts, though, the field soon came back together on the bike.
Having lost around 30 seconds to Ouabadesselam’s split of 9:15 in the swim, the likes of Jacob Birtwhistle (Valence) and Nathan Grayel (Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée) were prominent in stitching the field into a main pack. The pace remained high as the likes of Ricardo Batista (Valence), Jelle Geens (Liévin) and Thomas Teofili (Triathlon Toulouse Métropole) made their way to the front.
After claiming the European Super Sprint title, Batista had arrived in fine form and made the most of testing his rivals’ legs.
The pack did not fracture on the bike, though, and a large group careered into T2. The experience of Geens and Pierre Le Corre (Les Sables Vendée) shone through as they made their way to the front of the group. Louis Vitiello (Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée) was another to expertly position himself.
On the other hand, Jawad Abdelmoula (Poissy) and Mario Mola (Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée) hovered towards the back of the group and sacrificed valuable seconds into transition.
Geens struck onto the run with Birtwhistle and Grayel nearby although Le Corre lost a few metres. Having been on Geens’ heels, he was suddenly nowhere to be seen. It later transpired that he had forgotten to switch his competition shoelaces and thus fell behind.
Batista and Vitiello lurked on the leaders’ shoulders, ready to strike, as Brandon Copeland (Liévin) and Abdelmoula recovered the seconds lost at the end of the bike. Early in the run, it seemed as if any of ten men could have taken the win. Geens, though, remained collected at the front.
Perhaps conscious of the charging Le Corre – his sprint finish had been on full display in his win at WTCS Sunderland – and Batista’s closing speed, Geens made his move a little earlier than some may have expected.
Grayel initially hung on but soon slipped into the chase group behind with Birtwhistle, Vitiello, Abdelmoula and Batista. Several further men hung within seconds of the chasers while Le Corre and Mola were constantly gaining ground.
At the front, though, none of that mattered. Geens raised his lead to 5 seconds and then pushed on. He went on to tie the fastest split of the day (15:02) to seal an authoritative victory. In doing so, he made it three straight wins for Liévin with three different men.
Behind Geens, all chaos broke loose.
Grayel, Vitiello and Birtwhistle hared to the line, burning off Copeland first then Batista and Abdelmoula. In a desperate lunge, Grayel managed to snatch 2nd place. Birtwhistle managed to take 3rd from Vitiello by less than a second. Abdelmoula then crossed in 5th, only 3 seconds back.
With two men in the top-4, Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée won the round, claiming their third win of the season. They did so by the slimmest of margins as they defeated Valence by 1 point and Liévin by 3 points.
Heading into the final round, though, Saint-Jean-des-Monts Vendée will have a 10 point lead at the top of the table. The championship should therefore be theirs.
You can view the women’s results here and the men’s results here.
