Vallé de Joux is in the Swiss Jura, 1 hour North from the fabulous City of Geneva. The race venue is not in the large Alpine mountain ranges like you imagine in Switzerland, but in the beautifully picturesque mini Alps that divide France from Switzerland.
For the woman’s race, since Xterra Malta we have never had all of our main competitors on the start line together. But for Switzerland, the Top 6 from the Euro tour will be on the start line, which will make for a very exciting race. Morgane Riou who has just won Belgium, Nicole Walters our Greece winner, Helena Karaskova, Italy Lake Garda champion, Brigitta Poor, Malta and Cyprus winner and finally, Carina Wasle our new Euro tour leader will be present. So who will be the victor in this one?
This is a very hard question for me to answer, said Lebrun. In most cases, I have a good idea based on current form, but for this race it’s really hard. Being a short race and quite different to the norm, where last year’s top athletes like Helena and Brigitta finished 7th and 9th, it will suit the shorter distance capable athletes better, were Morgane was and is very strong. Nicole was also very strong last year, but didn’t have her best run there, but we know she has improved this discipline a lot in the off season. Maybe the bike is too short for Helena to come back. Carina has had some rest and recovery last week, and could possibly be strong like in Italy. Brigitta should love this kind of race to but will have to forget her bad race at this venue last year. So yes it is really hard for me to choose one of those 5 top athletes for the victory. Even though I think this race will suit both Brigitta and Nicole, let us wait and see...
We must also have a look at some of the strong and promising outsiders. ! The first is a local girl. She will be ready, fresh and full of eager motivation! I’m talking about Loanne Duvoisin, she was the first woman amateur in Maui at 19 years old, and an incredible 12th overall, so I think that it will be no surprise to see her playing a bigger role in this race within the front end of the field of athletes. Lizzie Orchard from New Zealand had such bad luck, with a big crash in Belgium and broke a couple of ribs and sadly had to stop. I think she will not be 100% ready.
Ladina Buss is more than capable to fight for the title of best Swiss athlete, and a top 10 or maybe better will be possible, but it will her first race on the tour. Diane Luethi is currently 10th in the Euro Tour and has only raced twice. Angela Niklaus will be the Fourth Swiss on the Elite list. Maud Goldsteyn will also be there for a possible top 10 finish, even though the bike leg might be a little short for her. However, she was a fabulous 8th last year in this race and 6th in the Euro tour.
For the men, it’s much more easy for me to place a bet on Arthur Forissier! He won here twice in previous years, he won in Greece and was second in Italy, Lake Garda, so he is for me the stand alone favorite. He decided to take a break from racing in Belgium so again will be fresh on the start line. And after his fun video promoting this race I’m sure even locals will cheer for him very loudly.. No doubt that he is my favorite for sure. His team mate Arthur Serrieres could be his main competitor but I’m not sure he will be 100% recovered from his big crash in Belgium as he ended up at the hospital with few stitches in his knee. But if he is back, and fully recovered, we might see a very quick leg on the bike, the Tvert train hammering the race. With what Theo Dupras showed in Belgium, they could possibly be the 3 in the lead with the same kit!
But we must remember, that one very high profile guy is back! The one who will definitely be in the front top five of the race, analysing the situation and waiting for others to make mistakes. That will be the superb presence of Roger Serrano, who is both very smart and strong and will be such an exciting prospect. He will hopefully be recovered from his opening tour round of tour race organizer in Spain. We can see from his social media, that he is well trained, so he will be near or at the front for sure. But he knows the Arthur’s and also Marcello Ugazio will be very strong on the run, as they all gave him a hard time in Greece, so what will his strategy be?? We will soon find out on Saturday afternoon...
Talking about Marcello Ugazio, he is another one who can win this race. The bike loop is not too technical, therefore he can make up valuable time as his his weakness technically will not be an issue. So you can be sure that he will use that superb power and speed on the bike to his advantage. If he can combine a fast bike with a similar run leg too, then the combination could get him well up into the leaders of the race.
Xavier Dafflon will be racing on home soil, but he knows that even with this advantage and the best supporters, this race will not be the best for him. He is a pure biker and thrives on a very hard bike loop, like in Belgium, France or Italy to get more chance to come back. Last year he was 5th and is swimming is much better this year. So I am thinking that I will see him possibly come back through the field for the podium but it will be hard for him to take the win unless he pulls out of the bag, a storming performance all around. It will be interesting also to see how Corentin Duclos takes the pressure. He did a fantastic race and finished 6th overall two weeks ago in Belgium and was the first amateur, and will now race for the first time in Elite here in Switzerland.
ELITE FEMALE:
WASLE CARINA AUT
WALTERS NICOLE GBR
POOR BRIGITTA HUN
ERBENOVÁ HELENA CZE
RIOU MORGANE FRA
GOLSTEYN MAUD NED
LÜTHI DIANE SUI
TOMICA ANNA POL
NIKLAUS ANGELA SUI
BUSS LADINA SUI
ORCHARD LIZZIE NZL
DUVOISIN LOANNE SUI
ELITE MALE:
SERRANO SALGADO ROGER ESP
LEHMANN PETER GER
DAFFLON XAVIER SUI
FORISSIER ARTHUR FRA
SERRIERES ARTHUR FRA
UGAZIO MARCELLO ITA
DOLORES RUI POR
HALL DOUG GBR
BRIÈRE CLÉMENT FRA
VAN DAELE TIM BEL
KUBICEK JAN CZE
DUPRAS THÉO FRA
VIVIEN GAËTAN FRA
PAGE PIERRICK FRA
DUCLOS CORENTIN FRA
DANON MAXIME FRA
CHOJNOWSKI SEBASTIAN POL