the essential
By winning last Saturday in Beaupuy, over a distance of 6 km, the TOAC member and the Blagnac SC member now have two victories in this 2024 Road Challenge. Overall, they are still in 2nd place.
“She is a trail specialist and very strong on the climbs. But I am a little faster on the flat.” This is how Sally Onn (Blagnac SC) sums up her duel with Anaëlle Szternberg, contested last Saturday in Beaupuy over 6 km (6e stage of the “Serge Lévy – La Dépêche du Midi” Challenge). “It was great to race as a pair, with both solidarity and a competitive spirit,” continued the British athlete (she has dual British-Irish nationality), who won in 24’55” (9e scratch place) with a fourteen second lead over his breakaway partner.
With this second success in the Challenge, the Blagnacaise consolidates her 2e place in the general women’s ranking, now 96 points behind Line Martinez (5e “I currently train four to five times a week but I don’t follow any plans. I’m really in fun mode and most of the time I run quietly while listening to podcasts,” concludes this mother, who is particularly aiming for the Médoc marathon at the beginning of September.
“Contract fulfilled” for Eric Rivals
For his part, six days after his domination at the Saint-Orens trail, Eric Rivals did it again, also taking his second victory in this road Challenge. “I was on a high-intensity week with twice-daily training on race day. So there was some residual fatigue. The goal was to secure first place without aiming for the time. The contract was fulfilled,” emphasizes the TOAC member, winner in 20’57”. He notably beat Jean-Philippe Bosch (21’43”), wearer of the yellow jersey overall with a lead of 1,892 points.
In his diary, Eric Rivals continues today with the Ariégeoise cyclosportive. Then, next weekend, we should see him on the Corrida Crédit Agricole Toulouse 31 (7e stage of the Challenge, over 10 km).
Record de participation
To complete the list of winners, Damien Gioia (43’49”) and Ophélie Muratorio (57’15”, 6th overall) were the fastest on the 12 km course.
Finally, behind the scenes, the municipality of Beaupuy set its new participation record. “We had 96 competitors, thirty-one more than last year. The circuit was a mixture of roads and paths. On the other hand, for the weather, we had to deal with the rain”, summarizes Marc Fernandez, the mayor of the town, helped by thirty volunteers.
