2024 French Cup | Rounds 9 & 10 Chapelle
19th – 20th October
Written by Damien Ethalon
Photo’s by Kaptur Photography. Purchase shots from the French Cup HERE
2024 French Cup | Rounds 9 & 10 Chapelle
19th – 20th October
Written by Damien Ethalon
Photo’s by Kaptur Photography. Purchase shots from the French Cup HERE
All good things must come to an end, so after a long and exciting season, it was time for the fifth and last French Cup weekend of the year. Everybody descended on La Chapelle Saint Mesmin, near Orleans, in the middle of France, for the last two rounds of the 2024 series. La Chapelle is a very famous location on the BMX map, which had organized a Euro Cup round back in 2006. But now they have a totally new supercross facility. A very long track, with huge turns and a big Pro section on the second straight. Unfortunately, it had only just been finished recently, and with the heavy rain all week long it turned it into a very soft track, with slippery turns, especially on Saturday … once again the French Cup fall victim of the weather.
On day one, after several nasty crashes in the Junior category due to the track being really soft, the race director decided to cancel all the races after the 1/8 finals. Once again it would be a one-day racing weekend, or let’s say one and a half. Not the ideal scenario for sure, but it is what it is.
So, it was all about Sunday, and in the Elite Women class Axelle Etienne maintained her winning streak with another convincing success. She has really been unbeatable at home since the Olympics. Camille Maire was consistent as usual and grabbed another podium with a 2nd, while Léonie Druart made her first ever podium in the Elite class! Jodie Viemont and Marie Favrel made it to the main once again finishing 4th and 5th. Bad luck for Léa Brindjonc, Teigen Pascual the Canadian girl who was there with a few other riders from the UCI Center, as well as Celia Bonnet, who all went down in the first turn!
Despite this crash, Lea Brindjonc had a solid lead in the ranking and grabbed the title ahead of Camille Maire who’s been strong all year long. Axelle Etienne finished 3rd in the series, thanks to her impressive second part of the season.
Women’s Result:
1: Axelle ETIENNE
2: Camille MAIRE
3: Leonie DRUART
4: Jodie VIEMONT
5: Marie FAVREL
6: Lea BRINDJONC
7: Teigen PASCUAL
8: Celia BONNET
Women’s Overall Ranking:
1: Lea BRINDJONC 366 pts
2: Camille MAIRE 329 pts
3: Axelle ETIENNE 315 pts
On the men side, the three Olympians were absent and even the series leader and newly crowned French Champion Arthur Pilard didn’t line up as he had surgery on his ankle right after national championships. The door was open for the underdogs! After Saturday’s incidents, a few riders decided the track wasn’t safe enough and didn’t race … despite all this drama, there were still a lot of fast guys on the gate.
The main had a strong international flavor with four different nationalities represented. But it was France who took the win with a very strong lap from Leo Garoyan. Leo seems to be back in his best shape, and it showed. Dylan Gobert finished 2nd, his best result this year. Meanwhile Mathis Louet scored his best career result so far with an enormous 3rd place! Colombia’s Juan Naranjo and Belgium’s with Wannes Magdelijns were not far behind. Tanguy Rivoire finished 6th and was the last Frenchy of this main as two riders crashed in the first turn. It was the Kiwi, Michael Bias, and Latvian rider Martins Treimanis who made the trip to France worth it!
Bias took full advantage of Pilard’s absence and despite his crash in the main managed to score enough points to grab the series overall. Mission accomplished!
Men’s Result:
1: Leo GAROYAN
2: Dylan GOBERT
3: Mathis LOUET
4: Juan NARANJO
5: Wannes MAGDELIJNS
6: Tanguy RIVOIRE
7: Michael BIAS
8: Martins TREIMANIS
Men’s Overall Ranking:
1: Michael BIAS 442 pts
2: Arthur PILARD 436 pts
3: Mathis RAGOT RICHARD 331 pts
The 2024 French Cup is now over, but we’re looking forward to 2025 with the following races on the calendar:
March 22 & 23: DESCARTES
April 12 & 13: TROYES (Supercross Track)
May 24 & 25: GUIPAVAS
June 7 & 8: SARRIANS (Supercross Track)
September 13& 14: TBA