Dynafit X2 Courchevel - 22 July 2012

On Sunday 22 July, the organisers of the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme”, in collaboration with the Courchevel volunteers' association and the sports department, were in the starting blocks to welcome the 101 competitors in this first edition of the “Dynafit X2 Courchevel”.

Guillaume Prin, president of the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme”, and his whole team, with the support of partner Dynafit, have no shortage of imagination to put the resort on the map and attract athletes to new practices by creating this Alpine duathlon with an original concept.

The principle is simple: cover 43 km in the mountains, with 19.3 km (1,180 m of elevation gain/loss) of trail running and 23.7 km (780 m of elevation gain/loss) of mountain biking, enough to delight trail runners and mountain bikers alike.

While most participants had decided to race alone in “Solo”, linking the two disciplines, others preferred to do the event as a team relay in “Duo” (the first does the trail and hands over to the second for the mountain bike).

Blessed with good weather, the day started well for the competitors, who from 7 am came to collect their bibs and place their mountain bikes in the bike park located 400 m from the start, opposite the Olympic ski jumping hills.

At 9 am, the start was given for the trail event at the edge of Lac du Praz. Frédéric Thérisod of Team Dynafit Courchevel in “Men’s Duo” with Gilles Tresserre (MTB) of the Guidon d’Or de la Léchère led the race up to the highest point of the trail at the top of the Dent du Villard (2,285 m) before being overtaken by Sébastien Fayolle of the club VEO la Plagne in “Men’s Duo” with Fabien Lazzaroni (MTB).

Sylvain Camus of Team Garmin in fourth position stayed cautious: unlike the first two, who would hand over for the mountain bike, he was entered in “Men’s Solo” and would have to do the second part on the bike himself.

Among the women, Caroline Freslon-Bette of Team Garmin in “Mixed Duo” with Tony Sbalbi (MTB), 2006 vice-world champion in ski mountaineering vertical race, made the most of this event, in which she excels, to open a gap on Noémie Grandjean, who was racing in “Women’s Solo”.

1h50min54s after the start, Sébastien Fayolle was the first to arrive at the bike park, where Fabien Lazzaroni was waiting for him and took over the MTB leg in first position. Gilles Tresserre took over from Frédéric Thérisod 1min38s after Fabien, whom he caught 3 km further on, and won this duathlon in 2h54min49s, setting along the way the best MTB time in 1h03min18.

On the MTB leg, Sylvain Camus secured victory in “Men’s Solo” with the 9th best MTB time and a final time of 3h10min01.

Noémie Grandjean won this duathlon in 4h24min38 in the “Women’s Solo” category.

In the “Mixed Duo”, Jean Risser (Trail) teamed with Hélène Froehlich (MTB) won in 03h34min26s ahead of the Garmin team made up of Caroline Freslon-Bette, who won the women’s trail leg in 2h22min53s, and Tony Sbalbi, who finished the 43 km in 3h37min26s.

Gaëlle Martin (Trail) in “Women’s Duo” with Géraldine Clappier, who set the women’s MTB record in 1h23min16s, the only “Women’s Duo” team entered, finished this duathlon in 3h59min38s.

While waiting for the prize-giving, everyone was able to enjoy the traditional Madelon party and taste the Savoyard meal offered to the competitors.

For the “Solo” event, the men’s and women’s podiums were rewarded with DYNAFIT prizes, and €200 of prize money was awarded to the best men’s and women’s times.

For the “Duo” event, the first 3 men’s, women’s and mixed teams were rewarded with DYNAFIT prizes, with a bonus €200 of prize money for the best time in the men’s, women’s and mixed Duo.

The men’s and women’s records in each discipline (trail / MTB) were rewarded with €50 of prize money.