Cross-country skiing : Margot Tirloy already in the running at the FESA Cup
The international winter couldn’t have got off to a better start for Margot Tirloy. Selected for the FESA Cup cross-country skiing event in Schlinig, Italy, the Frenchwoman made a great start. An excellent second in the opening sprint skate, the Haut-Savoyard shone.
Already at ease in the morning qualifying round, where she won, the cross-country skier from La Clusaz (Haute-Savoie) went on to put in a top-class performance in the final stages, and cruised to the podium. And despite the snow that fell in the morning at the Italian venue, the 19-year-old managed to come out on top.
“It was still great skiing. In the qualifiers, I gave it everything I had because I was aiming for a good one,” she told Nordic Magazine. It went really well because I finished first ahead of Ariane [Pignot, editor’s note]. It was a great group effort with the girls, and we all finished in the top fifteen.
A downturn after qualifying
However, despite this performance, La Cluse was slow to look ahead to the rest of the programme: “After this first run, I wasn’t feeling very well because I went really hard. I was a bit shaken up and it was cold on the site. We warmed up as best we could”, she confides.
Margot Tirloy got off to a good start in the finals, despite her slump, and negotiated her quarter-final and semi-final perfectly. However, when she reached the final, the skier from the Aravis region was not able to play as placed as she would have liked. In the final, I was advised to put myself in the skis to take the suction in the downhill,” she says. I didn’t manage to get ahead on the straight. I don’t really have any regrets, because I think the Italian deserved it too.
“I wasn’t sure where I stood, so I couldn’t wait to see what would happen.Margot Tirloy at Nordic Magazine
On a little-known track, which doesn’t yet host a stage of the international circuits every season, the Frenchwoman was satisfied with second place. “I’m really pleased to have finished on the podium on this first stage of the FESA Cup. It gives me a lot of confidence,” she says. I didn’t really know where I stood, so I was keen to see what would happen. Last year, it took me a while to get my first podium.
And while she admits to our microphone that she feels in “great shape”, Margot Tirloy will have another opportunity to shine this weekend, with an individual classic and a mass-start skate taking place on Saturday and Sunday: “I can’t wait to see what happens next,” she says.
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