Cross-country skiing : Margot Tirloy undisputed leader of the U20 FESA Cup
The classic mass-starts of the FESA Cup cross-country skiing race in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, took place in snowy and difficult conditions on Sunday. Over a 20-kilometre course, it was the young female cross-country skiers under the age of twenty who got the ball rolling.
And as on the previous day, when Daphné Patois won the classic sprint, it was once again a French rider who raised her arms in Sunday’s race. Leader of the overall circuit classification since the first stage when she shone in Schlinig, Italy, Margot Tirloy impressed once again.
Ideally placed throughout the intermediate sections, the rider from Haut-Savoie put everyone in agreement in the final pack. On the attack, she outpaced her rivals to claim her fourth victory of the winter on this Alpine Cup circuit. It was a doubly satisfying victory, as La Cluse shared the podium with a compatriot.
Less than two seconds behind her, it was Annette Coupat who took second place on the day. Stronger than Italy’s Beatrice Laurent in the final, the Forézienne enabled the French team to score an incredible one-two finish to round off the third weekend of the FESA Cup season.
An excellent grouping in the top 5 for Les Bleues
At the foot of the podium, two French riders took their place. Ariane Pignot and Anouchka Neuville were in the thick of things right to the end, putting in a solid performance to enable the blue team to place four athletes in the top 5 of this mass-start classic.
Tenth-placed Agathe Margreither fought hard to keep her place in the top ten. Tenth on the line, the Jurassienne finished 58 seconds behind her victorious team-mate. Finally, Daphné Patois, the superb winner the day before, finished fifteenth.
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- Oberwiesenthal: Verena Veit wins the women’s classic sprint at the FESA Cup, with the French out of the running
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- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: Léonie Besson magnificent second in the classic sprint qualifier, four other French riders qualify
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