The French Grand Prix heads to wine country this weekend for the second round of the series in Bordeaux.
Although the bike course will be slightly shorter than normal (18.75km instead of the usual 20km), the classic 750m swim and 5km run will be on the cards. The bike route contains two dead turns, albeit one involves going turning around a small roundabout, and plenty of long straights to drop the hammer.
To finish, the athletes will tackle a waterside run. That should provide plenty of scope for athletes to see their rivals throughout should anyone break clear.
In the French Grand Prix, though, the team is everything. As nice as the individual glory of winning a race is, it will need to be buttressed with strong performances by those wearing the same tri-suit.
On the women’s side, Poissy stormed to an early lead in the season opener while a couple of teams lost ground. You can view the standings after the first round here.
Poissy will be looking to maintain their iron grip of the women’s series and, with that in mind, will be fielding their three scorers from Fréjus. Sandra Dodet returns after winning the first race. Also joining her will be Lea Coninx and Kristelle Congi after finishing 3rd and 4th.
With that trio, Poissy will stand as the immediate favourites to win the second round. Moreover that have added Ilona Hadhoum to their team. The French prodigy will use the race as a chance to fine-tune her preparation for the World Junior Championships. With her swimming ability, Poissy gain another athlete that should be able to make the front pack.
Marie Wattiez completes the line-up. Poissy will be tough to beat and there is a high likelihood that they extend their lead at the top of the table.
Chasing them, however, will be Issy Triathlon. Issy currently sit 2nd overall after a great start to the season. As well as the team performed in Fréjus, they have cause to hope for an even better result in Bordeaux.
Bianca Seregni will be racing after an injury-enforced absence. More than any other athlete, Seregni has the speed in the swim to destabilise Poissy’s best-laid plans. In addition, Anne Holm will make her first start after injury.
With Seregni in the water and Holm on the bike, Issy will be confident of setting a brutal pace for the entire affair.
The Merle sisters, Audrey and Celia, provide welcome firepower on the run too, while Julia Brocker completes what looks like a very powerful team. Issy have all the bases covered with their line-up and should be able to go toe-to-toe with Poissy throughout. To potentially win overall, they will need Audrey Merle to out-run Dodet and the likes of Seregni, Holm and Celia Merle to take on Coninx and Congi. It will be a challenge, but it is one the team are capable of achieving.
On the flip side, the recent injuries of Seregni and Holm cast a slither of doubt over their prospects. As such, Issy’s day will likely be determined by the condition of their Italian and Danish duo.
Another team capable of causing some damage in the swim is Tri Val de Gray. After opening their ledger with a 5th place overall, they will need to move up in Bordeaux. One immediate problem, though, is the absence of Mathilde Gautier who is listed as a reserve. Furthermore Jessica Fullagar is also listed among the reserves after enlivening the bike in Fréjus.
Val de Gray do have Lea Marchal, though. Marchal was the fastest swimmer in Fréjus and will look to set a similar high pace. The Australian Mikayla Messer will also be racing and could offer a big impact.
Barbara Riveros will bring experience to the team while they will hope the 2022 French Junior champion Appoline Foltz can earn a high finish. The fifth member of the team is Marion Salelles and she could also chip in with a good race.
However, without Gautier and Fullagar, Val de Gray may have an uphill battle to move towards the podium.
Metz Triathlon will be looking to move up after finishing in 8th last time out. Margot Garabedian had a good start to the season and Pauline Landron was strong. The team lacked a third high scorer, though.
Nora Nouri, Zsanett Bragmayer and Claire Barthelemy will look to rectify that in Bordeaux. After a dynamic performance at Bundesliga Kraichgau, Bragmayer can be expected to fill that third role.
Meanwhile, after a 13th place in Fréjus, the cavalry have arrived for Vals du Dauphiné. After taking a silver medal at WTCS Cagliari, Emma Lombardi returns and will be an obvious favourite for the win.
To boost matters further, Vals du Dauphiné have added Manon Laporte, the French Junior champion, to their team. Lombardi and Laporte will slot in alongside Iratxe Arenal Arribas, Helena Carvalho and Iona Miller.
Vals du Dauphiné therefore have a number of athletes that could score. With Lombardi leading the way, they could potentially be the team to take down Poissy.
Newly-promoted Les Sables Vendée Triathlon had a near-perfect start to the season to finish 6th. Having impressed in the first round, they are an even more formidable proposition in Bordeaux.
In no small part, that is because they have added the European champion, Jeanne Lehair, to their starting team. Lehair enjoyed successful outings for Metz in the Grand Prix last year and is a candidate to win the race. If she does so, suddenly the entire round opens up for Les Sables Vendée.
Dodet and Lombardi will obviously have something to say about the win however Lehair has been running so well this year. Assuming nothing goes wrong, it is hard to see her being beaten.
Ekaterina Shabalina will also be starting for Les Sables Vendée as will Tiphanie Brun after a good showing at the French Junior Championships (especially on the bike). Lona Gandon and Alexia Bailly then add further firepower to the team.
On a tactical note, Les Sables Vendée may be best served by using Gandon and Bailly to shield Shabalina and Brun on the bike (or whoever has the running legs on the day). As the top-3 finishers are key, they don’t want to let Brun take on too much work on the bike and then tire, which happened a little bit in Gravelines.
After their recent medals in Poland, Anouk Sterkers will be racing for Triathlon Toulouse Métropole while Hollie Elliot will line up for Stade Poitevin Triathlon.
The men’s race will be similarly competitive. To see the current status quo of the men’s field, click here.
Whereas Poissy were dominant in the women’s race in May, the men had a day to forget by their high standards. Looking to set that right, Poissy have beefed up their team in Bordeaux.
Jawad Abdelmoula returns to help elevate the team from their current 7th place. So too does Dorian Coninx. Coninx is in particularly good form and has starred in the WTCS. Look for him to hunt the win individually as Poissy summon a major reaction to Fréjus.
Alongside Coninx and Abdelmoula, Aurelien Raphael will be there to command the swim. With Tom Richard and Antoine Duval also racing, there is quality throughout their ranks.
Their closest rivals might just be another team that under-performed in Fréjus. After a slow start, Triathlon Club de Liévin are in 8th place overall. That will likely change this weekend as they added the triple WTCS race winner, Hayden Wilde, to their ranks.
Further reinforcements have also arrived in the guise of Aaron Royle and Richard Varga. That being said, Royle has moved up to long distance so might not have the speed required to make a dent. Such is the speed of Liévin’s rivals on foot, Varga might also struggle to break into the top-10 unless he can force a breakaway.
Nicolas Alliot and Hugo Winnock will also represent Liévin and could deliver big performances. Beyond Wilde, though, the team do not look as capable of putting multiple men in the top-10 in the same way as Poissy.
The current occupants of 2nd place, Les Sables Vendée Triathlon, will look to stamp their authority over the race. Pierre Le Corre and Jeremy Quindos go again after big showings in Fréjus. Plenty will hinge upon Le Corre’s ability to replicate his podium finish.
Les Sables Vendée also have Oscar Dart starting. Of all the new additions, Dart could be among the most influential. He is in great form, with wins in Lianyungang and Subic Bay to his name. He also medalled at the recent Oceania Championships.
As much as Wilde will draw a lot of attention, someone like Dart could be a major player in the broader team competition.
Gaspard Tharreau will also be starting for Les Sables Vendée. The youngster is an intriguing proposition; having missed out on French selection for the World Junior Championships team, he could drop a big response to prove a point.
Rostyslav Pevstov then rounds out the team that looks deep enough to beat both Poissy and Liévin.
For all this talk of who could win, the actual leaders have not had their claim examined. Let’s change that.
Saint-Jean-des-Monts-Vendée Triathlon started their season brilliantly and things are likely to get better for them. While they can still call upon the in-form Nathan Grayel and Louis Vitiello, they have added the world champion, Leo Bergere.
Bergere replaces Mario Mola (who won the season opener) and his presence could provide a lightning rod for the team. While their rivals have added their big guns, Saint-Jean-des-Monts-Vendée have one of the biggest. Max Stapley and Francesc Godoy will also be racing but realistically the French trio of Vitiello, Grayel and Bergere will be key.
They have the capacity to put three men in the top-10; with a deep field that could be enough to win the round
On balance, Bergere will have to take down at least one of Coninx, Wilde or Le Corre. In an ideal world for his team, he would beat all three. If Bergere delivers and the rest of the team match their levels from Fréjus it will be hard to see them losing their grip on the series.
Amid all the attention at the front of the race with the big names battling it out, it will also be worth keeping an eye on Metz Triathlon. With a squad consisting of Nathan Guerbeur, Aurelien Jem, Noah Servais, Maxime Hueber Moosbrugger and Mathis Margirier, they have all the required pieces to be sneakily good.
At the end of the day in Bordeaux, Metz could surprise quite a few people.
You can view the start lists here.
