ROUND 2 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 6 and Saturday 9 January 2021

The 2021 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel adapt to the situation!

Following government decisions, the 2021 Millet Ski Touring Courchevel (MSTC) will continue every Wednesday and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm until the ski lifts open, in compliance with health measures. These ski touring races will then return to their cruising rhythm every Wednesday evening from 6 pm until the grand fancy-dress final and the concert by Keen’V on 17 March. In this context, each round will be run taking into account the Wednesday and Saturday times of the week, and for competitors taking part in both weekly climbs, only the best time achieved will count towards the round’s standings.

The 2020 season prize-giving, originally planned for 18 March 2020 with the concert by Shy’m but cancelled because of the lockdown, will take place on Saturday 23 January from 4 pm at the end of the 4th round of the MSTC. It will be held behind closed doors with all the winners and hosted by Ludovic Collet, assisted by the famous sports journalist Nelson Monfort, patron of the race. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Courchevel Sports Outdoor Facebook page.

Yoann Mougel and Alice Niemaz, winners of the 2nd round…

This second round of the season was held on Wednesday 6 and Saturday 9 January. The suspense lasted until the end of this 2nd day of racing before the podiums were settled. Among the men, everything was decided on Saturday with the arrival of Yoann Mougel of CAF Annecy, who won in 25min08s after climbing the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation gain of this Vertical Race course between Courchevel Le Praz and Courchevel. He was hounded by Frédéric Perrin of CAF Albertville (25min25s) and Florent Besses (26min13s).

Among the women, the “Courchevel Sport Outdoor” club was in the spotlight with the victory of Alice Niémaz in 33min10s and the 3rd place of Caroline Rainieri in 37min02s. Only Elise Perrin, winner of the 1st round, managed to slot in between, in 34min53s. “It’s strange to race in broad daylight when you’re used to climbing by headlamp, and to find yourself alone on the course with no reference points from other competitors. It’s harder, but it’s great to be able to keep motivating yourself with a bib and to have managed to adapt to keep this event going,” said Alice in essence.

For the provisional overall standings, no worries for Thibault Anselmet, who was also crowned French Vertical Race Champion, an event run in parallel with the event on Saturday 9 January. He keeps the lead in the 2021 standings in 22min37s. With his performance of the day, Yoann Mougel takes second place ahead of Sébastien Fayolle (25min16s).

Clarisse Monnet keeps the lead in the women’s standings in 32min04s ahead of the day’s winner Alice Niemaz and Elise Perrin.

Italians determined to take this season 11’s records

High-level international participation continues at the “Millet Ski Touring Courchevel”. After the wins of the French Yannick Buffet (2011 and 2012), Laetitia Roux (2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016), Mathéo Jacquemoud (2013 and 2016), Axelle Gachet-Mollaret (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020), the Spaniards Mireia Miro Varela (2011) and Kilian Jornet (2014 and 2015), the Swede Emelie Forsberg (2013) and the Swiss Marti Werner (2017) and Rémi Bonnet (2018, 2019 and 2020), might this season be the Italians’?

This third round, to be held on 13 and 16 January from 10 am to 3 pm, will be thrilling thanks to the participation on Wednesday of 2 athletes from the Italian national team: Michele Boscacci and Alba De Silvestro.
After setting a time of 23min18s on this MSTC course at the Courchevel Ski Mountaineering World Cup in 2014, Michele Boscacci has come a long way and has every asset to threaten the event record held by Rémi Bonnet in 21min20s:
- in 2016: World Cup winner in ski mountaineering and first European title
- in 2017: World Cup runner-up, bronze medallist at the World Championships and 2nd win at the Trofeo Mezzalama.
- in 2018: World Cup and Pierra Menta winner
- in 2019: 3rd place in the World Cup, with a 2nd place in the individual event.

For her part, Alba De Silvestro will also be a formidable opponent for Laetitia Roux’s record of 25min31s. In 2014, she won the junior category of the Vertical Race held on this course in 29min01s at the Courchevel World Cup. 7 years later, she will be back stronger than ever given her record: winner of the Mezzalama and World Cup runner-up in the Individual event in 2017, team and Individual world vice-champion in 2019 and World Cup Individual event winner in 2020.

Next dates: Round 3: Wednesday 13 January and Saturday 16 January from 10 am to 3 pm