Race report by Patrick Dumont.
Mmedo in full flow
Team GB made their separate ways to the city of light on the last week end of May. Saturday opened under clear skies and radiant sun. Team comprised a wide range of style and experience, from juniors to masters, through amateur and pro plus a wounded soldier, Amaury who had dislocated his shoulder at Hog Hill shortly before. Team GB comprised: Paul Coupe, Louis Selby, Mmedo Duffort, Didier Lambert, Richard Searle, Cyprien, Patrick and Amaury Dumont.
Pavel/Cult rider Louis powering down the Trocadero
Contrary to 2013 vintage, the organisation had targeted to start with the GS, then Tight and keeping Special for the Sunday. In the introductory riders meeting, Jani hinted at a surprise event to round up the weekend.
With flawless timing the GS started and ran through the categories. The setting makes for quite a short GS, with caution necessary in all disciplines since the track runs into one of most busy roads in Paris.
Before we knew it, it was already time for the Tight slalom. The braking after the course gave rise to a couple of “Ooops moments” for a few riders including Patrick who slid and twisted his ankle, while Tezzanz ended up straight in the railings. Next year I think proper foot brake training will be mandatory.
After a great day of skating we all broke up for a night in Paris. I heard the night was very short for some when we all met up again on Sunday morning.
Paul Coupe livin’ the dream.
Exhaustion did not affect motivation, with Mmedo in especially highly competitive mood. The Special slalom however did not make for any further changes to the rankings, apart from in the juniors where Cyprien managed to fight his way to third place.
Although the main racing had finished, all was not quite over. A Tight slalom course had been set up for the newly invented “Nations Cup”. A really great idea which kept everyone racing to the end with a smile on their face.
Cyprien Dumont – Concentration is everything.
The teams were matched in pairs of roughly similar ability. Cyprien managed again to find his way to the winning team, with a big push from Petr Matys, the blazingly fast junior from Czech Republic.
Richard gaining yet more European racing experience.
- Racing at the Trocadero can be hazardous to your feet – Arggghhh get me a shoe sponsor!
Overall – Open
1 Stas Mironenko,Ukraine/Pro
2 Christopher Dupont,France/Pro
3 Oleg Glushko,Russia/Pro
4 Michel Dupont,France/Pro
5 Louis Selby,Great Britain/Pro
6 Marc Camelan,France/Pro
7 Alfonso Pérez Villalpando,Spain
8 Vincent Tanguy, France
9 Daniel Navarro Fernandez,Spain
10 Nacho Munoz Cuellar,Spain
11 Felix Müller,Germany
12 Mmedo Duffort,Great Britain
13 Guillaume Saint-Criq, France /Pro
14 Borja Munoz Cuellar,Spain
15 Jadranko Radovanovic,Switzerland
16 David Rudnianski, France
17 Didier Lambert,Great Britain
18 Jean-Sébastien Dennebouy,France
Overall – Masters
1 Jani Söderhäll,Sweden- European Champion, Overall, 2014
2 Vincent Langlade, France
3 Niclas Hyland,Sweden
4 Pelle Gustafsson,Sweden
5 Franck Pannetier, France
6 Richard Searle,Great Britain
7 Jose Muñoz Cuellar,Spain
8 Olivier Noel,France
9 Radan Knobloch,Germany
10 Paul Coupe,Great Britain
11 Patrick Dumont,Great Britain
Overall Juniors (-17)
1 Petr Matous, Czech Republic – European Champion, Overall, 2014
2 Max Thiele,Germany
3 Cyprien Dumont,Great Britain
4 Leonardo Fernandez,Spain
5 Alexei Söderhäll, France
6 Felix Thiele,Germany
7 Lukas Knobloch,Germany
Nations Cup Results
1 CZE/UK/FRA (Matous/Dumont/S.St Cric)
2 SPAIN1 (D.Fernandez/Villalpando/L.Fernandez)
3 GERMANY2 (R.Thiele/Müller/M.Thiele)
4 ENGLAND(Selby/Duffort/Searle)
5 RUS/UKR/FRA (Mironenko/Gluschko/A.Soderhall)
6 FRANCE2 (M.Dupont/Camelan/Noel)
7 FRANCE1 (C.Dupont/Pannetier/Dennebouy)
8 FRANCE3 (StCriq/Langlade/Tanguy)
9 SWEDEN(Gustafson/Hyland/Redman)
10 SPAIN2 (N.Cuellar/B.Cuellar/J.Cuellar)