Photos : David Mangel
And two more European medals for French duathletes! Title holder, Marion Legrand won gold once again at the Europe championship which took place late in the afternoon at Coimbra (Portugal). For his part, Benjamin Choquert took bronze, ahead of the Belgian Arnaud Dely and the Spaniard Javier Martin Morales. Here is a brief summary of each of the events.
Women’s race
It is under a beautiful sun that the starter releases the 27 competitors at 4:45 p.m. (5:45 p.m. French time)
The first 5 km long foot race allows 5 competitors to stand out: THE French women Marion Legrand and Marion Le Goff, the Spaniard Maria Varo Zubiri, the Belgian Jeanne Dupont and the British Phoebe Barker.
Halfway through the bike, the escapees receive reinforcements from 5 other competitors. Among them is the 3rd Frenchwoman entered Meghan Bazire. No competitor will be able to deceive the vigilance of its rivals.
The last 2.5 km foot race will be marked by a superb duel between Marion Legrand And the Belgian Jeanne Dupont. The last word will go to the Frenchwoman after a very tight sprint. The Meldoise also won her second consecutive European title.
For her part, the Belgian, who is licensed at Stade Français, won a medal for her first international race. As she is first among the U23s, she even won a second today.
The podium is completed by Maria Varo Zubiri which gains one rank compared to last year. Behind the Spaniard we find British Phoebe Barke And Marion Le Goff.
For his first international cape, Meghan Bazire finished in 8th place.
Men’s race
At 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. French time), it was the turn of the 39 male competitors to take the stage. Among them 5 French people: Benjamin Choquert (title holder), Krilan Le Bihan, Maxime Bargetto, Emile Blondel Hermant and Thomas Laurent (first selection for both).
The first run does not create any real selection.
After just a few kilometers of cycling, Maxime Bargetto escapes in the company of a Belgian athlete. But the two men were caught fairly quickly by the peloton.
It’s the turn of Dutch Thomas Cremers to make yourself beautiful. The Batavian resists for a few kilometers before being caught by his compatriot Valentin Van Wersch and the Belgian Arnaud Dely. The trio sets down the bike with around twenty seconds to spare.
Arnaud Dely quickly let go of his two rivals, heading towards a first Elite European title after two silver medals and one bronze.
The two Dutchmen having been caught, the fight for the medals is played out in a sprint between the athletes in the chasing group. It is Javier Martin Morales (5th last year) who proves to be the most skilled in this discipline. The Spaniard is just ahead Benjamin Choquert, Emile Blondel Hermant (remarkable for his first selection) and Krilan Le Bihan. As Thomas Laurent finished 7th, the Blues make a magnificent group shot.
For his part, Maxime Bargetto appears in 13th place in the ranking.
RANKINGS
Women
1 Marion Legrand (FRA) 00:58:40
2 Jeanne Dupont (BEL) 00:58:41
3 María Varo Zubiri (ESP) 00:58:48
4 Phoebe Barker (GBR) 00:59:01
5 Marion Le Goff (FRA) 00:59:10
6 Chiara Lobba (ITA) 00:59:25
7 Federica Frigerio (ITA) 00:59:27
8 Meghan Bazire (FRA) 00:59:40
9 Olivia Keizer (SUI) 00:59:45
10 Aline Kootstra (NED) 00:59:58
Men
1 Arnaud Dely (BEL) 00:51:30
2 Javier Martin Morales (ESP ) 00:51:38
3 Benjamin Choquert (FRA) 00:51:40
4 Emile Blondel Hermant (FRA) 00:51:42
5 Krilan Le Bihan (FRA) 00:51:44
6 Vincent Bierinckx (BEL) 00:51:46
7 Thomas Laurent (FRA) 00:51:46
8 Nicolas Schyns (BEL) 00:51:48
9 Mario Mola (ESP) 00:51:50
10 Martin Oldenhove (BEL) 00:51:54
13 Maxime Bargetto (FRA) 00:52:05
