ROUND 4 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 20 and Saturday 23 January 2021

Axelle Gachet-Mollaret and Thibault Anselmet return to the front of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel 2021

So many twists at the top of the overall standings of this season 11 of the MSTC. Of the 4 rounds already validated for this 2021 season since 30 December, there are some lovely surprises with the presence of many national and international athletes. After the remarkable performances of Italian national team members Michele Boscacci and Alba De Silvestro last week, the 2021 records will be bitterly contested this season. This 4th climb was particularly eagerly awaited because it was coupled, this Saturday 23 January, with the prize-giving of the 2020 edition in the presence of all the winners except Switzerland’s Rémi Bonnet, the event record holder in 21min20s, stuck in his country because of the health situation.

Thibault Anselmet and Gédéon Pochat join the under-22-minute club!

After winning the first round of the season in 22min37s, Thibault Anselmet, second in the provisional overall standings of the 2021 Ski Mountaineering World Cup, has come a long way since: triple French ski mountaineering champion (Vertical Race, Sprint and Individual). Winner in the espoir category in 2020, Thibault has every weapon this year to take the title of the season and, why not, the event record. In 3 weeks, he has taken 49 seconds off his initial time with the best provisional performance of 21min48s. Gédéon Pochat, who started just ahead of him in this time trial, held on perfectly and was beaten by only 2 seconds in 21min50s. To date, they are part of the club of 4 athletes to have broken the 22-minute barrier, along with Rémy Bonnet (21min20s) and Xavier Gachet (21min37s). The latter, present at this 4th round, set an excellent time of 22min37s, with the 3rd step of the podium as a reward. Note the conspicuous presence of the Italian Henri Aymonod, Italian Vertical Kilometre (KV) trail running champion, winner of the Fully KV (2018 and 2019), 3rd in the 2020 Red Bull Dolomitenmann and 5th in the 2019 Mezzalama, who finished just off the podium in 22min51s.

The remarkable performances of Thibault and Gédéon push the Italian Michele Boscacci, bronze medallist last weekend in the Individual event of the Italian ski mountaineering championships, down to 3rd place in the provisional overall standings in 22min11s.

Axelle Gachet-Mollaret confirms her current supremacy

With 4 consecutive wins at the MSTC to her name, the world champion Axelle Gachet-Mollaret is heading for a 5th title. 25min58s: the tone is set, a time that propels her to the top of the provisional overall standings but is not enough to dethrone the event record held since 2014 by Laetitia Roux in 25min31s, who was present at the finish. “It comes down to very little. The year I set the record was the day of the Courchevel World Cup, with probably stronger outside motivation. It’s harder in a time trial, but Axelle is very strong,” said Laetitia, the legend of women’s ski mountaineering with her 17 world titles. Emily Harrop, 1st espoir in 2020, in 28min14s, also made a considerable leap by improving her personal record by 31 seconds and took second place in the round in 27min43s. Winner of the last editions of the extraordinary Dynastar X3 Courchevel triathlon (a sequence of cycling, trail running and ski mountaineering: next edition on 18 April 2021) and of the Felt X3 Courchevel (a sequence of indoor rowing, cycling and trail running: next edition on 15 August 2021), Laura Deplanche snatched 3rd place with a fine time of 27min53s, after a fierce battle with the American Grace Staberg, 4th in 27min59s, and the Slovak Marianna Jagerckova, 5th in 28min15s.

In the provisional overall standings, the Italian Alba De Silvestro, winner of the 3rd round in 27min11s and Italian ski mountaineering Individual champion last weekend, slots into second position between Axelle and Emily.

The 2020 prize-giving hosted by Nelson Monfort and Ludovic Collet.

The prize-giving for the 2020 season of the Millet Ski Touring, originally planned for 18 March 2020 with the concert by Shy’m but cancelled because of the lockdown, took place on Saturday 23 January 2021 from 3 pm at the end of this 4th round of the MSTC. It was held behind closed doors in the Facim hall with all the winners and hosted by Ludovic Collet, assisted by the famous sports journalist Nelson Monfort, patron of the race, who rolled up his sleeves for this 4th round by clocking 1h19min01s over the 3.2 km and 500 m of elevation gain of the course.

The ceremony was broadcast live on the Courchevel Sports Outdoor Facebook page.

Despite the cancellation of the 2020 final, the “Decima”, which was fully booked, the outcome remains very positive, with 13 rounds held on the official course (3.2 km / 500 m of elevation gain) between Courchevel Le Praz and Courchevel 1850, 1,399 starts and 724 classified competitors.

For the 4th consecutive time, Axelle Gachet Mollaret, 5th overall in the 2020 World Cup, which was also cut short because of the pandemic, took the Raymond and René Millet crystal trophy in 25min45s (the founders of the partner company Millet), together with €2,000 in prize money, with the fervent intention of beating the record of Laetitia Roux in 2021. Jessica Pardin finished second in 21min37s ahead of the Slovak Marianna Jagercikova in 27min49s.

Among the men, the Swiss Rémi Bonnet, 9th overall in the 2020 World Cup despite skipping the 1st stage, won for the 3rd time in 21min20s, beating the absolute record held by the legendary Kilian Jornet in 22min01s since 2015. “Now that I’ve managed to take the event record, I think the next goal will be to break the 21-minute barrier,” he announced by video link. A royal final podium closed this 2020 season with Xavier Gachet second in 21min37s and Gédéon Pochat third in 22min02s.

Among the ESF instructors, the final standings are as follows:

- men’s podium: Joris Perillat Pessey (ESF La Clusaz) in 22min34s ahead of Alexis Sévennec (ESF Morzine) in 22min38s and Thibault Anselmet (ESF Bonneval sur Arc) in 22min38s.

- women’s podium: Emily Harrop (ESF Plagne Aime 2000) in 28min14s ahead of Candice Bonnel (ESF Valmorel) in 28min23s and Laura Deplanche (ESF La Toussuire) in 28min26s.

In total, 77 instructors were classified, from more than 20 schools.

In 2020, 7 competitors took part in all 13 rounds: Laurent Vially, Pascale Gachet-Mauroz, Mickael Chapuis, Laetitia Renard, Philippe Mottier, Yann Popovitsch and Jean-Louis Fillatre: congratulations to them. The 2020 best costume trophy from our partner Déguisetoi.fr, normally awarded at the final, was given to Olivier Cellier, who came in costume as usual throughout the season.

The rest of the programme for the 2021 edition

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.

Should the government impose a lockdown that would prevent a minimum of 10 rounds from being held, this season 11 would be interrupted and would resume on Wednesday 22 December 2021 to end on Wednesday 16 March 2022.

In the meantime, next dates: Round 5: Wednesday 27 and Saturday 30 January from 10 am to 3 pm