Cross-country skiing : Romain Vaxelaire just a handful of seconds off the top 10
After the women’s races, which were quite simply a success for the French, with Margot Tirloy winning in the U20s and Cloé Pagnier also in the seniors, it was the turn of the men’s cross-country skiers to take to the track in the classic mass-start at the FESA Cup cross-country skiing event in Oberwiesenthal (Germany).
And it was the young athletes under the age of twenty who were the first to make their mark on a course made difficult by the relentless snowfall throughout the morning. And while a group of five athletes seemed to be heading for a final sprint, it was finally Isai Naeff who took off in the final metres.
The Swiss rider put on a powerful acceleration that proved fatal to all his rivals, who did their best to resist the onslaught. Better reviewed, the 19-year-old won by 3 seconds from Italy’s Marco Pinzani. On the third step of the podium, the transalpine Gabriele Matli completed the top 3.
In the French clan, the best performance of the day went to Romain Vaxelaire. The rider from the Vosges crossed the line in eleventh place, just 7 seconds behind Germany’s Lennart Roever, who finished tenth on the day. Behind him, his team-mates put in a fine grouped effort.
Fifteenth ahead of Gaspard Cottaz, young U18 Victor Lafrasse held his own against rivals who were sometimes three years older than him. Haut-Savoyard Johan Calandry fought hard right to the end to finish in the top 20. Lastly, Quentin Viguier and Lorin Vergnolle complete the French team’s ranking in twenty-fourth and twenty-seventh place.
The full rankings
Read also
- Oberwiesenthal: Cloé Pagnier brilliantly wins the FESA Cup mass-start classic
- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: another victory for Margot Tirloy, winner of the U20 mass-start classic ahead of Annette Coupat
- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: Ivan Essonnier triumphs in the classic sprint, Julien Arnaud fourth
- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: Switzerland’s Isai Naeff dominates the U20 classic sprint, Gaspard Cottaz and Quentin Viguier semi-finalists
- Oberwiesenthal FESA Cup: Julien Arnaud, Ivan Essonnier and Gaspard Rousset in the top 30 of the classic sprint qualifier
- FESA Cup Oberwiesenthal: Quentin Viguier, Victor Lafrasse and Gaspard Cottaz pass the U20 classic sprint qualifier
- Oberwiesenthal: Verena Veit wins the women’s classic sprint at the FESA Cup, with the French out of the running
- FESA Cup Oberwiesenthal: Daphné Patois triumphs in the U20 classic sprint, Anouchka Neuville third
- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: Léonie Besson magnificent second in the classic sprint qualifier, four other Tricolores qualify
- FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal: Margot Tirloy best Frenchwoman in the U20 classic sprint qualifier, five Frenchwomen go through
- Twenty-six French players selected for the FESA Cup in Oberwiesenthal
