Livigno et la Sgambeda sous le soleil
Conditions idéales ce matin en Italie pour la première épreuve du circuit FIS Marathon Cup. Tous les meilleurs spécialistes des longues distances en skating étaient présents pour ce rendez-vous.
Un tracé facile long de 42km attendait les fondeurs. Un profil assez plat mais une course pas si évidente à gêrer en raison de l'altitude.
Comme souvent lors de La Sgambeda, la décision s'est faite dans le dernier kilomètre, puis lors de la ligne droite finale pour les tous meilleurs.
Quatrième l'an passé derrière Northug, Heikkinen et Livers, Benoit Chauvet a retenu la leçon. Aujourd'hui personne n'a pu résister à son finish et il vient remporter avec brio cette Sgambeda 2014.
Un sacré beau cadeau pour son tout nouveau Team Gel Interim Rossignol.
Le Tchèque Petr Novak prend la seconde place suivi par le second Français Robin Duvillard, lui aussi excellent sur cette épreuve au long cours.
Jean-Marc Gaillard se classe 6eme et Adrien Mougel 7eme.
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Victoire de Riita-Lisa Roponen lors de la course féminine. Comme en 2012 et 2013, la Finlandaise triomphe avec trois secondes d'avance sur l'Américaine Holly Brooks et la Biélorusse Ekaterina Rudakova.
Belle 5eme place pour la fondeuse du Haute-Savoie Nordic Team Aurélie Dabudyk.
Nous vous proposerons dans la soirée une belle série photos de la Sgambeda.
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Les réactions :
1. Benoit Chauvet (FRA):
"I am so happy! Yesterday I felt good but when I got on my skis today, I thought that this will be tough as I didn't feel very strong and good. I stayed behind in the beginning and tried to avoid any falls. Straight from the beginnig the speed was pretty high and we quickly became a smaller group until we were only eight at the end of the first loop.
Robin tried to speed up a couple of kilometres before the finish to break up the group but it didn't really work. I knew that it will come to a finish sprint. About four km before the finish I had a fall which hurt quite a bit, but I tried not to think about it and to just go on.
I positioned myself well for thi last couple of hundred metres and then just pushed as hard as I could. And finally the luck was on my side and I could finish first. It's the perfect start into the season as my main goal is to finally win the overall this time!"
2. Petr Novak (CZE):
"After not having skied a lot of long distance races last year as I focused on the Olympic Games in Sochi, I am really happy to be back. I just love the atmosphere you have at these races. Today, it was a really nice race. I hoped to be in front and I am really happy with me second place today."
3. Robin Duvillard (FRA):
"I haven't raced here before but this is a really beautiful area and a really great race. I really enjoyed sking here today. Ok, it's not the most demanding course which makes it difficult to get away from the others, but we achieved at least to break up the big group from the start right at the first uphill.
It was a fast race and I hoped to be in front. It all came down to the finish sprint and there Ben was the strongest today. I am really happy to be on the podium today."
1. Riitta-Liisa Roponen (FIN):
"I can't believe it – I did the hat trick! I am really satisfied with today's race. I really like skiing here – it's a wonderful race. I just kept on skiing in my pace as I was in a good group with some men. I always got the information where the others were so I knew that I had to keep on pushing. Let's see what I can do this year in the FIS Marathon Cup."