The French Championships took place this weekend in Oz en Oisans, in the Rhône-Alpes region, 1350m above sea level in the heart of the Alps and 55km south of Grenoble.
Just as they were last year, they were to be shown on national TV channel France 2 on Monday 20th July as part of a 50 minuteprogram on all of the biggest recent MTB competitions in France.
Below are the results, write-ups and photos of the biggest event of the French national trials calendar, which we brought to you direct from Oz-en-Oisans over the whole weekend! A big thanks to Bruno Arnold and the Ozonys team for the photos of the sections and of the Ozonys riders and to Laurent Grillon and Thomas Francisco of the Cerny Trials Club, for the write-ups of the Elite and Expert comps and the photos of Gilles and Tom!
The Elite Qualifiers:
The qualification stage of the National, Expert and Elite competition took place on the Friday. our partner Ozonys sent us the first photos of the and results of the Elite competition that very evening. It was a very rainy day, which meant that the (very technical) sections were mad even more difficult. The sections, which were reminiscent of the 2007 Championship, included some very technical passages on some very thin beams and were extremely perilous and unpredictable following the rain! Gilles Coustellier got off to a great start, finishing the qualification stage on just three points, ahead of Marc Caisso (18pts) and Aurélien Fontenoy (19)!
The eight riders who qualified:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles Coustellier | 3 |
| 2 | Marc Caisso | 18 |
| 3 | Aurélien Fontenoy | 19 |
| 4 | Vincent Hermance | 19 |
| 5 | Guillaume Dunand | 20 |
| 6 | Giacomo Coustellier | 29 |
| 7 | Bruno Arnold | 35 |
| 8 | Nicolas Vuillermot | 39 |
The Elite, Expert, National and R1 Finals:
French, European and World Champion Gilles Coustellier obvioulsy has no intention of losing a single one of his jerseys in 2009 and remains the grand master of 26" World trials! Last weekend in Zoertemeer (Netherlands) he won a further European Champion’s jersey. This weekend in Oz-en-Oisans he won his third French Champions jersey with a comfortable lead (nine points) over his main rival this season, Vincent Hermance! Marc Caisso also put in an impressive performance, still riding at the highest level, and took up the third place on the podium, ahead of Guillaume Dunand in fourth with the same number of points.
The Elite Final took place towards the end of the evening between 18:00 and 19:30 and riders had to complete two laps of six sections. Although the rain had been coming down in the morning, the weather forecast came good and the sun was out by the afternoon. The sections were dry and the spectators were many on the Saturday. The two K-124 super riders pitted themselves in a tense battle for the top spot. They were the only two riders to take the difficulties of the competition head on, while the rest of the riders had to go around or find easier routes. Super-Elite indeed... Both riders are in peak condition. Vince showed himself to be incredibly impressive on the sections and kept up with Gilles for most of the competition. He came second in the end, but vowed on the podium to take the victory again sometime soon: "Gilles was untouchable last year! This year he was just very, very good!" Atomz rider Marc Caisso took third place following a well managed competition, getting through the sections gracefully. The Ozonys team leader Guillaume Dunand finished with the same number of points as Marc but just lost out on the most cleans rule!
Another French Champion’s jersey for Gilles Coustellier...
The Elite podium...
The top eight in Elite class:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gilles COUSTELLIER | 5 |
| 2 | Vincent HERMANCE | 14 |
| 3 | Marc CAISSO | 28 |
| 4 | Guillaume DUNAND | 28 |
| 5 | Giacomo COUSTELLIER | 38 |
| 6 | Aurélien FONTENOY | 44 |
| 7 | Nicolas VUILLERMOT | 56 |
| 8 | Bruno ARNOLD | 56 |
Gilles Coustellier during the final...
Guillaume Dunand on the beams... click on the photo to see more of the two other Elite Ozonys riders in action on the Curve!
The Expert Final took place in the afternoon, just before the Elite competition on just two laps of four sections! Thomas Francisco, who has had a great season, was on top form this weekend. He attempted a big up that had been in the Elite sections the day before. He was too confident though and it deprived him of the Expert 2009 title... He got to the top but slipped backwards and lost his balance - five points! Marius Merger put in a brilliant ride and eventually won the title by one point! Atomz rtider Sylvain Richou took third place, ten points behind the top two.
The Expert podium...
The top eight in Expert class:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marius MERGER | 14 |
| 2 | Thomas FRANCISCO | 15 |
| 3 | Sylvain RICHOU | 25 |
| 4 | Maxime KOLB | 25 |
| 5 | Maxime TOLU | 28,5 |
| 6 | Alexandre FABREGAS | 30,5 |
| 7 | Morgan REMY | 31 |
| 8 | Florian BELHACENE | 37 |
Thomas Francisco during the final...
The top eight in National class:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas JURY | 4 |
| 2 | Jordy VEDERE | 7 |
| 3 | Yann DUNANT | 8 |
| 4 | Julien FERNANDEZ | 10 |
| 5 | Loic DUNANT | 10 |
| 6 | Léo BEARD | 14 |
| 7 | Benjamin DURVILLE | 16 |
| 8 | Alexis FIGUIERE | 23 |
The top eight in Regional 1 class:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maxime MUFFAT JOLY | 4 |
| 2 | Clément MEOT | 5 |
| 3 | Jéran BRICAUD | 5 |
| 4 | Thibald STEPHAN | 15 |
| 5 | Yann STEPHAN | 16 |
| 6 | Clément JANNIN | 17 |
| 7 | Guillaume JURY | 19 |
| 8 | Florian GIMENEZ | 23 |
The top eight in Regional 2 class:
| Place | Rider | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jérémy DESCLOUX | 25 |
| 2 | Alex RUDEAU | 27 |
| 3 | Gabriel BERGE | 30 |
| 4 | Kevin SAVIN | 37 |
| 5 | Robin CRETINON | 37 |
| 6 | Alexandre TAUREL | 39 |
| 7 | Morgann PEREZ | 47 |
| 8 | Killian CROGUENNEC | 48 |
Full results are available on the FFC website, here: FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS - OZ-EN-OISANS.
The Sections:
The first photos of the sections were put online just before the comp on the Ozonys website! A technical mix of natural and man-made obstacle! The famous beams section from the 2007 French Championship is back, but this time it’s 100% beams! There was also a section made up of imported granite rocks finishing with an enormous 3m slab that in the rain was as slippery as the wooden beams; a section of concrete pipes and two natural rock sections. Click on a photo below to see the whole gallery!
Wood...
The beams section...
Rocks... with an extremely difficult opening move!
The Ozonys riders in action... Guillaume Dunand came in fifth, just ahead of Giacomo Coustellier and with Bruno Arnold in seventh!
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