Speed records fell on this third edition of Tarn Valley Trail.
The third of the Tarn Valley trail was expected to be rainy, but it wasn’t. On the other hand, she was happy and allowed some fine winners to be crowned upon arrival in Millau. The main event (160 km) was won by Maxime Jaouen with a fantastic time of 17h31’52. “It was great, everything lined up, it was cool… I’m Breton and the weather was like at home, he analyzed at the microphone of the organization upon arrival. Just a little slump in the last big bump at the end. I wasn’t very well and fortunately it stopped, I didn’t have any more supplies.” He opened up a nice gap on his pursuer, Jérémie Roussinet who completed the course in 19h22’59. “It was very hard, from the climb of Rieisse I had bars on my thighs and it was difficult to restart, the first one was untouchable… It was a long crossing of the desert but the time is not bad” , recognized the person concerned after his effort. Nicolas Le Nocher finished just before passing the symbolic 8 p.m. mark (7:54:32 p.m.). Among the women, Souadia Blain was crowned after 24h31’56 of effort. She beat Sandrine Gautier (27h46’06) and Odile Vieilledent (30h25’53).
A place in the top 5 of the Intégrale des Causses
For its first, the Intégrale des Causses saw former professional cyclist Arnold Jeannesson dominate the event head and shoulders. He began to make the gap between Castelbouc and Saint-Chély-du-Tarn where he already had a two-minute lead over Clément Sinqsous. The gap continued to widen between the two men to reach 30 minutes at the finish. The first completes this 100 km route starting from Quézac in 11h02’38 and the second in 11h32’05. Vincent Chabanne takes the third step of the podium in 11h58’36. The first location is not very far from the race. In full preparation for the Diagonale des fous, Thibault Pradeilles took a nice 5th place (12:35:52) for a first over such a long distance.
Marie Audebert won the women’s category and did not finish far from the top 20 in scratch (23rd). She reached Millau in 14h57’45. “A beautiful route, tough, because it runs a lot and I’m more used to doing trails in the mountains, she admitted. It was nice because until the 60th kilometer we were the first four girls together and we did well. I had a boost after the refueling at Saint-Rome-de-Dolan.” Armèle Canali finished second in 15h27’40 and Florence Guibert third in 15h44’43.
Goulwen Kerneguez as boss in the marathon
On the local side, the Marathon des gorges du Tarn allowed Goulwen Kerneguez to take off between Saint-Rome-de-Dolan. The Millavois lover of the causses made everyone agree from the first kilometers. He was already alone when he took advantage of a pretty sea of clouds which emerged over the Tarn as he passed through the Saint-Marcellin cirque. He finished like a cannonball in the René-Rieux room in 3h41’39. “A very demanding race for the quadriceps, analyzes the winner, exhausted by his effort. It was smooth sailing to Peyreleau and down to La Cresse, down and back up to Paulhe… Ouch, ouch, ouch…” Behind him, Mathis Leau and Larzacian expatriate to Lyon Bastien Peres battled for second place. The first won the sprint and finished in 3h45’16, six seconds ahead of his pursuer. Elise Fournis also takes first place in less than 5 hours (4h48’24), she is ahead of Marlène Majorel (4h55’04) and Claire Deroissart (5h08’20).
Finally, over the shortest of distances, leaving by train from Millau to initially go to Saint-Georges-de-Luzençon, the battle was fought between Saint-Affricains. Mathias Hervas did well (1h14’19) and was ahead of Thibaud Balmefrezol (1h17’50) and Maël Alric (1h19’11). Among the women, Millavoise Claire Delmas won and finished 15th overall (1h35’42). She is ahead of Réjane Troucelier-Julien (1h45’58) and Sue Bint (1h48’02).
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