2018 UCI World Cup – Round 5 – Vallnord (Andorra)
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After winning three World Cups in a row, somehow, Amaury Pierron managed to almost win another one! He finished 2nd while Thibaut Daprela won his third World Cup in the Juniors Category. On top of that, we were the team of the day at the home of our main sponsors: Commencal and Vallnord. Yep, this fifth World Cup was a success!
He finished 2nd, only 1.333 seconds behind Loris Vergier, the winner of the day. Since Leogang, Amaury Pierron has a new status – he’s the World Cup leader and has to manage his races with a lot of new elements: be ready for interviews, fans, etc. He’s winning at this game too. He keeps his concentration when he has to and enjoys the rest:
“I really wanted to win four World Cups in a row, but I’m super happy to finish 2nd in front of this awesome crowd. I made a few mistakes, but it’s part of the game. I’m so happy to share the podium with Loris, who’s French too and I’m so glad about the overall situation. I’ll do my best to keep this white jersey until the end of the season!”
He’s leading the overall by 280 points which is a pretty good advantage with only two rounds left!
Rémi Thirion finished 16th and continues his progression! He was disappointed after his qualies (24th place) and worked hard to ride at his best for his final run:
“I know I’m still riding too clean and to be fast, sometimes you have to make some mistakes. I’m happy about the way I reacted after my qualifying round! I pushed my limits, and it felt good to feel this again. I know I’m not at the right place, but I won’t give up. My next goal is to finish in the top 10 now!”
In the Juniors Category, Thibaut Daprela was very impressive! He finished with the time of 4:15.467 which would have put him in the 22nd position in the Elite Category:
“Thibaut (Ruffin) told me after Val di Sole he was sure I could win by an even bigger time margin ahead of the other riders and that’s what I tried to do! I’m really happy to win another round and I’m even more happy about the overall ranking situation.”
Sitting 80 points ahead, his goal is the same as Amaury’s: to keep the lead to the end, and we’ll do our best to make it happen!
Even if only three riders of our team were racing this weekend, we still managed to be the best team of the day! It was such an honor to be on the podium with the Commencal and Vallnord staffs. For us, it was one of the best ways to say thank you for their support!
While we were celebrating this wonderful day, Myriam Nicole was at home, doing her best to be back as soon as possible. She hopes to be able to race in two weeks at the French Champs in Morzine, along with Gaëtan Ruffin!
