In difficulty during his Espoirs years, Ugo Ananie regained vigor for his first season in the Elite category. The Arques CX Team member was always present in the Top 10 during the first four rounds of the French cyclo-cross Cup. “I am satisfied. I was already surprised at Nommay where I finished 6th and 8th. For three years, I had been struggling, I had difficulty getting back to my level, I didn't understand why. It's back, it's nice. However, I haven't changed anything. But this year, my mind grew. I get fired up a lot less than before when I got angry quite quickly. I manage to stay in my race even when people push me to make mistakes.”he confides on the microphone of DirectVelo.
This Saturday at Pierric, the 21-year-old Northerner finished 8th again. “I had a small mechanical problem. I got stuck in a pole because Lucas Dubau locked me up. I made a mistake, I backed away. Then, my derailleur went into safety, I lost places again. Besides, everyone was on mud tires, that wasn't my case, many told me it was a mistake but I wasn't sliding that much. But I still managed to come back 8th.”. This Sunday, Ugo Ananie had “the desire to do much better. With my strength, I thought the Top 5 was possible.”.
And Ugo Ananie achieved his goals during this second act (see ranking). “It confirms that the legs are there. I just had a small puncture, but I changed bikes pretty quickly so I didn’t lose too much time.”. On the other hand, he was unable to take the wheel of Saturday's winner, Timothé Gabriel, when the latter returned to his group, then escaped to get 3rd place. “He went straight to the front with great pace. He accelerated a lot and we couldn't get the wheel.” But he still left alone to finish on his heels. “It was only at the end that I saw that I was closing in on him a little but he had already widened the gap. For my part, after gaining a little lead, I managed not to make any mistakes and secure 4th place.”
