The Margeride Lozère ski club shines at the Bessans marathon

With more than 1,800 registered over two days, the Bessans marathon broke its participant record. There were thirteen skiers from the Margeride Lozère ski club to set off on the slopes of Haute Maurienne, at the start of this 46^e edition.

Saturday races were dedicated to classic style and youth races and Sunday to skating races. The bravest ran on two consecutive days.

The routes have been traced between marvelous snow-capped peaks and glaciers and larch forests. The objective was to achieve good performances, but above all to take advantage of exceptional snow conditions and, moreover, under the sun. However, you had to be well covered because at the start of the marathon on Sunday morning, the thermometer showed -16°.

The results

In the U13 category, Clémentine Barrandon, after obtaining a good third place in the Grand Prix des Supeyres during the first race of the season, confirms her potential against the best Savoyards by placing 8^e28 seconds from the podium. The competition this time was denser and more numerous, its performance is all the more remarkable. The ten best being rewarded, she was able for the first time to get on the podium of a major popular race.

Capucine Tournadre, at the start of the 10 km finishes 36^e out of 50 and 5^e women's U16.

Naël Toulouse is one of the courageous people who raced both on Saturday, in classic (27^{e on} 151) in the 15 km, and in skating on Sunday, where he finished 15^e out of 50 in the 10 km.

For the other categories, the good performances of Gilles Cornet, in master 6, who won his category during the classic 15 km, in 52 minutes (28^e out of 151) and the 42 km skate in 2 hours on Sunday. Jacky Ribeyre does the same in skateboarding, in the M8 category.

Paul Laurès is also doing well, 46^e out of 181 (2^e master 3) on the classic 30 km and 68^e out of 691 (4^e M3) at the finish of the marathon. Same thing for Renaud Laurès and Damien Berthuit who follow each other closely by completing the 10 km skate in 43^e et 45^e positions, respectively 5^e et 6^e a master 3.

Without forgetting Jeanne Magdinier, Maxime Portal, Jacques Laurès and Mathieu Augustin who also had a lot of fun in their weekend race.

White Stride

SCML skiers were not the only ones in the spotlight because the event coordinator was none other than Ludovic Valentin.

Heading now for the legendary Foulée blanche in Autrans, in the Vercors, on January 25 and 26. They will find another expatriate from Loz in the person of Wilfried Valette who will be at the heart of the organization.