The standout duo struck gold to lead France and Switzerland to the team titles on day two of the European Off-Road Championships. writes Adrian Stott.
France’s Frédéric Tranchand and Switzerland’s Judith Wieder were the standout athletes on day two of the European Off-Road Championships (EORRC) in Slovenia, both winning the track titles and bringing their nations team gold in the process.
A total of 104 men and 90 women set off from the center of Kamnik for the 52km adventure, which included a 2,600m climb over the scenic hills and trails outside the town.
The big group led the first ascent to Gradisce, the first checkpoint at 1659m and the high point of the course.
This included many of the pre-race favourites, notably world short track champion Tranchand and Italy’s Daniel Pettis. Tranchand’s compatriot Antoine Charvolin and Norway’s former two-time short track world champion Stian Angermund were close behind.
Poland’s Marcin Kubica and Marcel Fabien, along with Britain’s Luke Grenfell-Shaw, Spain’s Alain Santamaria and France’s Remy Brassac, were two to three minutes down.
Things spread out a bit from then, but Pettis and Tranchand were still locked in the 19km time slot at 1:39:55.
On the final long climb from 25km, the Frenchman made a move and quickly opened up a gap of over a minute on the Italian, while Charvolin, Angermund and Santamaria were running together three minutes ahead.
Tranchand kept the momentum going, extending his lead to over three minutes with 40km to go.
Behind, Spain’s Allen Santamaria had been nominated and was now battling Charvolin for third. They ran together until 40km, where Santamaria stopped briefly at an aid station and allowed Charvolin, who came through in a boat, to steal a small lead.
Tranchand stayed strong on the long, fast final downhill to Kamnik to cross the line in 3:55:14. Pettis took silver four minutes back in 3:59:54 and Chavrolin took bronze in 4:05:13.
France were comfortable winners in the team event, with three athletes finishing in the top seven. With three top 10 finishes, Poland edged out Italy for silver.
Grenfell-Shaw, who was in the top six at the halfway point, ran a great race to become the first runner for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in eighth place.
Ben Rothery (26th), Sasha Chaplin (32nd) and Andy Symonds (33rd) combined well to finish fifth in the team.
In the women’s race, Wider took an early lead, with Great Britain’s Scarlett Dale in touch, but more than a minute ahead. By the time they reached 20km, the top two were tied, with Sweden’s Emma Eriksson in third.
Like Tranchand in the men’s race, Wider made a move on the long climb to the 29km time point. He achieved this in 2;46:36, over three minutes ahead of Eriksson, who had moved into second place by now.
Dale had dropped back to third, but was closed out by Spain’s Maria La Chica.
On the long descent to Kamnik, Wider maintained his lead, stopping the clock in 4:36:41 for 51st overall.
In a big fight for silver and bronze, La Chica was able to hold off Erickson, finishing in 4:40:24 and 4:40:38 respectively. It was a great progress for the 23-year-old Swede to appear on the European podium.
Slovakia’s Barbara Bukovian and Switzerland’s Therese Leboeuf powered through the final 20km to finish fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of France’s Audrey Tanguy and Adeline Martin. It led to a close team tussle, with the Swiss taking the gold medal ahead of the French and the Spanish finishing third.
Dale faded over the final 15km but held on to finish 14th and the first British woman. Behind her, Yves Pannone (19th), Emily Cowper-Coles (29th) and Kirsty Oldham (48th) secured Brittain as the fourth team.
Senior men
1. Frederic Tranchand (FRA) 3:55:14
2 Daniel Pettis (ITA) 3:59:54
3 Antoine Chavrolin (FRA) 4:04:1
4 Allen Santamaria (ESP) 4:07:27
5 Markin Kubica (POL) 4:08:59
6 Stian Angermund (NEW) 4:10:32
7 Remy Brassac (FRA) 4:11:41
8 Luke Grenfell-Shaw (GBR) 4:12:44
9 Marcel Fabien (POL) 4:13 25
10. Rafal Matuschak (POL) 4:13:55
Selected others:
20 Ben Rothery (GBR) 4:21:58
26 Sasha Chaplin (GBR) 4:25:54
32 Andy Symonds (GBR) 4:28:03
Team table. 1 France: 11 points; 2: Poland: 24 points; 3 Spain: 32 points; 4: Italy: 44 points; 5 Great Britain: 54 points
Senior women
1 Judith Wider (SUI) 4:36:41
2 Maria Aghjik (ESP) 4:40:24
3 Emma Eriksson (SWE) 4:40 38
4 Barbora Bukovyan (Czech Republic) 4:44:55
5 Therese Lebouef (SUI) 4:45:18
6 Audrey Tanguy (FRA) 4:47:51
7 Adeline Martin (FRA) 4:49:28
8 Sylvia Schweiger (SVK) 4:51:14
9 Eliza Kristinsdtotter (ISL) 4:51:43
10 Maria Gonclaves (FRA) 4:56:01
Selected others:
14 Scarlet Dale (GBR) 5:02:28
19 Eva Pannone (GBR) 5:06:28
28 Emily Cowper-Coles (GBR) 5:18:33
48 Kirsty Oldham (GBR) 5:35:35
Team table.
1 Switzerland: 17 points; 2 France: 23 points; 3: Spain: 38 points; 4 Great Britain and Northern Ireland: 62 points; 5:00 Czech Republic. 66 points
Full results here
