Cross-country skiing: Mattis Basille the strongest
This Sunday, the Foulée Blanche was on the programme. In the race around Autrans (Isère), on the Vercors plateau, it was Mattis Basille, from Team Nordic Expérience Coste – Fromageries Marcel Petite, who won after 1 h 52 min 26 of effort. In the sprint, he beat two members of the Haute Savoie Nordic Team: Cluse Gérard Agnellet and Simon Chappaz.
This benchmark victory came after a great battle for the 23-year-old cross-country skier. “It’s a really big breakthrough, there’s been a lot of hard work, with the coaches and my family who’ve been following me for the last two years. It’s a real pleasure. I’m really thinking of them. It was a great tactical race. I tried not to do too much from the middle of the race, when I saw that there was a small group in front. The sprint was complicated, so I tried to attack from a distance because I’m not the best sprinter. Gérard [Agnellet] countered and I hung on. On the descent, I thought I was going to take advantage of the slipstream to try and catch him. I passed him on the last bend, closed the door and that did it”, said Mattis Basille.
The experienced Gérard Agnellet was satisfied with his second place after starting with some uncertainty about his condition.
“Well done to Mattis [Basille] because he was really strong. I’ve just had a stomach bug and I didn’t know where I stood. I was surprised in a good way. In the sprint I attacked him at the end, but he caught me on the descent. I knew I had to attack the sprint in front and I attacked the second. I wasn’t able to overtake him, so I was a bit frustrated at the end.”
The top 10 was completed by Nicolas Berthet, Benoit Chauvet, Basile Bunoz, Hugo Dejour – winner of the Bessans marathon – Tanguy Perrillat-Boiteux, Yan Belorgey and Noa Genest.
In the women’s race, Maëlle Veyre, in the colours of the i3 Ski Team, won solo after more than 2 h 4 min 12 of racing. She beat her first rival, local rider Emilie Bulle from Team Vercors Isère, by more than 3 minutes. The podium was completed by Océane Bépoix, from Team Nordic Expérience Coste – Fromageries Marcel Petite. Félicie Chappaz, Margaret Lane, Eva Gatie and Maya Even followed.
It was a victory that did the 22-year-old cross-country skier a lot of good. “It’s been a very complicated start to the season for me. I wasn’t enjoying myself at all. This is the first race of the season where I really wanted to be there. I’m very happy and I really enjoyed myself. I just need to get back to the essence of my sport. This morning at 10am, there were a lot of people around the piste. It’s a great celebration of cross-country skiing, so it’s good to be back,” she says.
> Full results HERE
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