Mizuno X3 Courchevel 2023: the best turn up

Mizuno X3 Courchevel 2023: the extraordinary triathlon dazzled!

6,000 m of indoor rowing on an ergometer, 12.5 km by bike with 750 m of elevation gain, then 9.6 km of trail running with 550 m of elevation gain. The Mizuno X3 Courchevel is a cocktail of disciplines unique in the world, which appeals through its originality, its spirit and its atmosphere! Solo or in teams of three, it all starts at Le Praz beneath the ski jumps with a terrible test on the rowing machine (indoor rowing or ergometer) before riding up to the Altiport with a fine climb ending on the landing strip… 400 m at 18% is short, but it bites!!! The event ends with a loop along the trail running paths of the Rocher de l’Ombre area with a 2nd climb of the Altiport slope, to make sure you have nothing left in your legs!

The best at the start

This triathlon is an opportunity for athletes from very different disciplines to take each other on and test themselves in rather… unusual disciplines!

Among them, regulars at the start included the triathlete Cédric Fleureton, a two-time winner of the event; the ski mountaineer Laura Deplanche with three wins in the summer triathlon; and the trail runner Fiona Porte, winner of the Maxi Race and the 2023 Lavaredo Ultra Trail. There were also rowing specialists such as Suzannah Duncan, 2019 under-23 world rowing champion, Clément Duret, world champion in the lightweight eight. Capucine Roussel, Victoire Quettier and Mary Stephan, all three members of the French rowing team in the coxless four, had chosen to enter as a team. Not forgetting Marie Lamure, 4th in the 2023 alpine skiing world championships in the parallel slalom, who had chosen the rowing leg within her mixed team, completed by her brother Morgan in cycling and by Eva Brun in trail running.

The women and men rowers who set the best times on the rowing machine

The setting had been carefully prepared, with around a hundred ergometers lined up on the roof of the Envolée gymnasium, against the backdrop of the famous ski jump, one of the many assets of the Savoie resort. The first leg quickly saw the specialists of the discipline take control. Etienne Juillet from Verdun came off first in 21min42s, followed 11s later by Hector Guimet, then, 6s after that, the ten-time French rowing champion in the four, Julien Gazaix.

Among the women, it was the U19 European champion in the coxless pair, Léontine Fouquet, who came off the ergometer first in 25min11s to hand over to her team-mate. The second woman to leave the machine was Susannah Duncan, the lightweight rower from the Aiguebelette club who wore the colours of the French team last season. Capucine Roussel finished 6s later…

A change of scenario on the bike

Out of the transition area in 30th place, almost 3min behind the best rower, Cédric Fleureton quickly settled the matter. He arrived alone in the lead, 25s ahead of Clément Duret in a group of three and 2min30s ahead of Baptiste Petit Roulet, and the triathlete was at last in his element. Twice European triathlon champion, bronze medallist at the trail running world championships, 7th at the Xterra world championships and first Frenchman… The runner’s record says a lot about his versatility!

On the women’s side, it was the rower Suzannah Duncan who surprised many people. With 46min08s to cover the 12.5 km of cycling, she built a comfortable lead over her pursuers Laura Deplanche at 3min30s and Fiona Porte at 4min15s.

Trail running to finish (off)

After setting the best time on the bike and in the trail (48min21s), Cédric Fleureton won in 1h51min35s. Nicolas Raybaud, a former rower turned Xterra runner, arrived 8' later. In 3rd place was Guillaume Rouger of team Mizuno, European Masters trail running champion.

She became the first rower to win the event, in 2h15min58s! Suzannah Duncan was the first woman to reach the altiport to move on to the trail leg, again setting the best time, in 1h02min04s, ahead of the discipline specialist Fiona Porte, who came second in 2h20min47s and took the title of “X3 Woman 2023” by winning the X3 challenge, following her victory last winter in the extraordinary triathlon “Dynastar X3”. With 3 wins to her name, the title holder Laura Deplanche finished on the third step of the podium in 2h31min33s.

In the men’s teams, team Sec et Limite took first place with Loïc Lezarme, Clément Duret and Nicolas Leguay. Among the women, it was rowers again who shone. Three rowers who, a week earlier, had finished fourth at the U19 world rowing championships in Vaires-sur-Marne: Capucine Roussel, Victoire Quattier and Mary Stephan, making up team SN Haute-Seine. Team Triangle des Bermudes with Léontine Fouquet, Laurène Fouquet and Clothilde Marcelot finished second. In the mixed category, the club des sports de Pussy with Hugo Billat, Clémence David and Cédric Colliard won ahead of Marie Lamure's team.

Susannah Duncan looked back on her taking part in, and winning, the Mizuno X3. “Clément Gaime, my coach, was going with one of his friends. I joined in on the adventure. I was looking for a goal after the Holland Beker. I had beaten my personal best in the single scull, and I thought it a shame to end the season like that when things were going so well. I knew the level would be high but I wanted a real challenge, and I got one.” While the French team is in its final training camp, Susannah Duncan organised her own, cycling in her region, rowing of course, and going to check out the X3 course a few days beforehand. “I was right to, it helped me understand that simple trainers wouldn’t be enough for the trail.” A trail whose difficulty she was able to gauge, even though she set the best women’s time. “It’s the hardest, for a start it’s the last leg, and they are muscles that you don’t necessarily work in rowing. There is also the management of cramps, stitches and impacts! The course was technical.” Not to mention the two climbs to the altiport. “It was really hard, on the bike as well as in the trail. But I want to go back, depending on the date and my availability. I want to see what I can do when I’m properly trained.”

The next date is set for 14 April for the winter version, the Dynastar X3, combining cycling, trail running and ski mountaineering! A great sporting occasion in prospect!