Rollerski: Magni Smedaas wins after a great effort
Norway’s Magni Smedaas was the favourite in the mass-start classic of the French Wheelchair Skiing Championships in Autrans. The Team Eksjöhus rider, who competes on the Ski Classics circuit, held her nerve to win the race.
“It was a tough race. It’s twenty kilometres flat, so you have to push all the way, there’s no rest. And the headwind was really tough,” she tells Nordic Magazine. It was also a lot of fun, because there were people everywhere and it was a great atmosphere. I’m really happy to be here, racing against the French girls. It’s really great to see their level.
Back from an intensive training camp, Magni Smedaas knew she was going to be blunt. Faced with Hanna Fine and Léonie Perry, who were particularly strong, the Scandinavian had to dig deep to win.
I tried several times to get away, but I couldn’t,” she says. And then, with two kilometres to go, they slowed down a bit. I said to myself: ‘OK, I’ve got to try’. I was really at my wits’ end […], I was completely exhausted by the end. I think I was a bit lucky to be able to go all the way.
Back competing after a season disrupted by illness, the Alliansloppet winner is now looking forward to the winter. “I was ill all last year, so I couldn’t do anything. I hope that this year I’ll finally be a bit stronger. My goal for this season is to race in the Ski Classics, and I hope to pick up a few wins there”, she confides.
- A skate sprint followed by a classic mass-start: the full programme for the French summer cross-country skiing championships and the U15 national summer challenge in Autrans.
- Challenge national U15 d’Autrans: Eva Belkhir-Caliste and Louan Perl Huin win the free sprint qualifier
- Autrans: Elsa Marvillet and Nino Rimailho win the U16 sprint skate qualifying round of the French championships
- French Championships in Autrans: Guillemette Baisle and Paul Rousset Vachon the fastest U18 sprint skating qualifiers
- Autrans U15 National Challenge: final phases cancelled after injury to a competitor, qualifying times taken into account
- Autrans: Giulia Lathuraz and Elio Faivre crowned French U16 freestyle sprint champions
- French Championships in Autrans: Guillemette Baisle and Paul Rousset Vachon win gold in the U18 free sprint
- Autrans: Julie Pierrel first in the sprint skate qualifier for the French championships, Chloé Missillier ahead in the U20s
- French Championships in Autrans: Sabin Coupat wins the free sprint qualification, Gaspard Cottaz first U20
- French Championships in Autrans: U20 sprint skate gold medals for Annette Coupat and Luigi Biancolli
- Autrans: Liv Coupat French freestyle sprint champion ahead of Justine Gaillard and Daphné Patois
- French Championships: Jules Chappaz goes gold in the Autrans sprint skating event, Rémi Bourdin and Sabin Coupat on the podium
- “It was a good day’s work”: Jules Chappaz reflects on his title in the sprint skate at the French championships in Autrans
- “I didn’t expect to be at this level at all”: back from Covid, Liv Coupat won the skateboard sprint at the French championships in Autrans.
- “Summer’s work pays off for the whole family”: two gold medals and a bronze… A look back at the Coupat siblings’ crazy day at the French Championships in Autrans.
- Autrans: Anaë Remillon dominates the mass-start classic of the U15 National Challenge
- Challenge national U15 d’Autrans: Savoyard Jules Boiron wins the mass-start classic ahead of Taïg Baffert and Valentin Gaillard
- Autrans: Eliott Maury crowned French U16 mass-start classic champion
- French Championships in Autrans: gold in the U16 mass start classic for Manon Pradel Mayer from Auvergne
- Autrans: Anja Vittoz becomes French U18 mass-start classic champion, Lison Brouart and Lou Rives win medals
- French Championships in Autrans: Victor Lafrasse wins the U18 mass-start classic, Paul Rousset Vachon and Basile Grosleziat follow suit
- Autrans: Valentin Berna from the Vosges is the new French U20 mass-start classic champion
- French Championships in Autrans: Annette Coupat, golden in the U20 mass-start classic, finishing ahead of Agathe Margreither, signs the double
- Autrans: Norway’s Magni Smedaas wins the mass-start classic, Léonie Perry crowned French champion ahead of Hanna Fine
- French Championships in Autrans: the classic 33.3 km mass-start for Mathis Desloges, Théo Schely and Jules Chappaz on the podium
- “I said to myself: ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’”: Mathis Desloges reflects on his performance in the mass start classic at the French Championships in Autrans.
- “It’s where I want to continue my sport, the regalade! Léonie Perry on winning the national title in Autrans in the mass-start classic
- The full results of the 2025 French summer cross-country skiing championships in Autrans
