2021 French Cup: review of an exceptional season 12
Millet Ski Touring Courchevel: season 12 promises to be exceptional!
Millet Ski Touring Courchevel: season 12 promises to be exceptional!
After 165 rounds held and 17,688 starts given over 11 years, season 12 of the Millet Ski Touring Courchevel kicked off in grand style this Saturday 4 December with a round of the French Cup. This 3.2 km Vertical Race course with 500 m of elevation gain between Courchevel Le Praz and Courchevel has become a genuine institution in the ski mountaineering world where, every year, international and national athletes, whether specialists, amateurs, locals or holidaymakers, come to test themselves in a weekly competition where a good atmosphere and conviviality remain. The second MSTC round of the season is scheduled under the full moon on Wednesday 22 December at 6 pm. The following ones will take place every Wednesday until 16 March 2022, not forgetting the French Vertical Race Championship on Saturday 22 January 2022, which doubles as the 7th round.
As every year, the highlight of the season will of course be the great fancy-dress final with an exceptional concert by Louis Bertignac, on Wednesday 23 March.
Blistering times for the opening of the 2022 season!
Classed as a prologue this season, this first round of the 2022 MSTC took place on the day the resort opened. It was selected as a French Cup round by the French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation and designated as a qualifying event to join the French team that will take part in the first ski mountaineering World Cup in Italy on 16 December.
In this context, the full French ski mountaineering team was on the start line, along with a few international athletes such as the Americans Katie Schide and Grace Staberg and Slovakia’s Marianna Jagercikova , who came to fine-tune their form.
Among the women, the climb record held by Laetitia Roux in 25min31s was under threat. Suspense reigned at the finish when Axelle Gachet Mollaret, winner of the event in the last 5 editions, slipped off record pace 200 m from the finish. She finally crossed the line 3 seconds short. She nevertheless won with a new personal best of 25min34s, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Emily Harrop, record holder for the run up the Courchevel Olympic ski jump at the Red Bull 400 2021, took second place in 26min59s, her best performance in the event. MSTC runner-up last year, Jessica Pardin took 3rd step in 27min28s.
Among the men, Xavier Gachet, runner-up in the 2018 and 2020 MSTC editions, set the benchmark time of 22min31s and finished 5 seconds ahead of Samuel Equy. Thibault Anselmet, 2021 winner, completed the podium with a time of 23min02s.
The tone is set for the next 15 rounds of this new season, which promise to be thrilling given the performances achieved.
The Sprint for Harrop and Anselmet!
After the Vertical Race, the French Cup continued with a Sprint event on the Courchevel snow front on Sunday 5 December. The show was there on this fast-paced event, the shortest in the ski mountaineering programme as it is completed in under 3 minutes. A true concentration of situations: gliding, transitions, carrying, kick turns, descent and strategy. The race took place in several phases with, from 9 am, an individual time-trial qualification followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in heats of 6 skiers.
As spectacular as ever, after a splendid battle, Thibault Anselmet took his revenge by winning at the finish ahead of Florian Sautel and Baptiste Ellmenreich. Among the women, the same for Emily Harrop , who beat, in order, Marianna Jagercikova and Candice Bonnel.
All in all, a quality show that set the rhythm for the opening of the Courchevel resort, with Marianna Jagercikova and Benjamin Chamoux remaining at the top of the provisional 2022 French Cup standings.
Courchevel, partner of the French Ski Mountaineering team
This magnificent weekend was closed by Alain Carrière, president of the FFME, Jean-Christophe Vidoni, deputy for sport for the commune, Gilles Delaruelle, director of the tourist office, Benjamin Escama, director of the sports department, and Guillaume Prin, president of the organising club Courchevel Sports Outdoor. They formalised an official partnership between the French Ski Mountaineering team and Courchevel at the end of the prize-giving ceremony.
This partnership will allow the French team to prepare as well as possible for the major events of the sport: French and World Cups, French, European and World Championships, and above all the 2026 Olympic Games, by regularly organising training camps in the resort.
Next event: Millet Ski Touring Courchevel on Wednesday 22 December 2021
Results 1st MSTC round
(French Cup Vertical Race)
Top 10 men (scratch):
1: Xavier Gachet: 22min31s
2: Samuel Equy: 22min36s
3: Thibault Anselmet: 23min02s
4: William Bon Mardion: 23min08s
5: Gédéon Pochat Cottilloux: 23min12s
6: Yann Guedfin: 23min38s
7: Julien Michelon: 24min04s
8: Julien Bernaz: 24min10s
9: Alexis Sévennec: 24min10s
10: Florian Sautel: 24min11s
Top 10 women (scratch): 1: Axelle Gachet Mollaret: 25min34s
2: Emily Harrop: 26min59s
3: Jessica Pardin: 27min28s
4: Laura Deplanche: 27min36s
5: Marianna Jagerckova: 27min37s
6: Candice Fertin: 27min55s
7: Katie Schide: 28min06s
8: Grace Staberg: 28min17s
9: Léna Bonnel: 28min48s
10: Julie Roux: 29min10s
French Cup Sprint results
Senior women’s final:
1: Emily Harrop: 2min37s
2: Marianna Jagercikova: 2min48s
3: Candice Bonnel: 2min53s
4: Léna Bonnel: 2min57s
5: Célia Perillat Pessey: 2min58s
6: Laura Deplanche: 3min05s
Senior men’s final:
1: Thibault Anselmet: 2min06s
2: Florian Sautel: 2min20s
3: Baptiste Ellmenreich: 2min22s
4: Rémy Garcin: 2min22s
5: Benjamin Chamoux: 2min25s
6: Eddy Bouvet: 3min19s