2025 French Cup | Rounds 3 & 4 Troyes
12th – 13th April
Written by Damien Ethalon
Photo’s by Kaptur Photography. Purchase shots from the French Cup HERE
2025 French Cup | Rounds 3 & 4 Troyes
12th – 13th April
Written by Damien Ethalon
Photo’s by Kaptur Photography. Purchase shots from the French Cup HERE
It was time to transition to the big hill and to race a big wide-open track in Troyes for the second French cup weekend of the year. The venue had already hosted a similar event in 2023 but unfortunately the first day had to be cancelled because of the wind. Well guess what … the exact same scenario unfolded this year. Round 3, cancelled because of strong winds. Is the French cup cursed? Unfortunately, there have been quite a lot of races canceled because of bad weather over the last three years of the series. Despite this sad situation we witnessed a great show on Sunday with a stacked pack in both categories.
On the women side the Canadian sensation Molly Simpson continued travelling around the world … and keeps winning. Like in Descartes a few weeks ago she didn’t drop a lap and won this race quite easily! Once again, she was followed by two Dutchies, but this time it’s Merel Smulders who took 2nd place in front of Indy Scheepers who bagged third. An Olympic medalist and a former Junior World Champion. What a great podium! The third Dutch rider, and current Olympic Silver medalist, Manon Veenstra was also in the main but crashed hard in the first turn. She was ok and will be ready to fight for a win in the next rounds.
In the middle of this international field, four French riders found their way into the main. Tessa Martinez was the fastest of them and took 4th in front of Emma Patraccone, Marie Favrel and Anaïs Garnier who is still junior but decided to ride elite class for this year.
So, the questions now for this Elite Women category are: Will Molly Simpson win every round, and will we see a French girl on the podium before the end of the season?
Women’s Results:
Sunday:
1: Molly SIMPSON
2: Merel SMULDERS
3: Indy SCHEEPERS
4: Tessa MARTINEZ
5: Emma PATRACCONE
6: Marie FAVREL
7: Anaïs GARNIER
8: Manon VEENSTRA
Women’s Overall Ranking after Round 4:
1: Molly SIMPSON 189 pts
2: Manon VEENSTRA 154 pts
3: Merel SMULDERS 149 pts
The men side saw the comeback of the current French and European Champion, Arthur Pilard. He was back on track and looking very fast! Pils dominated the whole main event but made a mistake as he stopped his effort down the last straight! It was enough for Leo Garoyan to push till the end and pass him on the line! It’s not over until it’s over! Garoyan is on fire and grabs his third victory of the season after his wins in Descartes and Verona.
Behind these two we saw Mathis Ragot Richard back on the podium, in third, after a rough beginning to the season. We know he loves big tracks, so it wasn’t a surprise to see him perform here. Pierre Geisse showed some consistency with a 4th while 2024 French Cup Champion, and big tracks specialist, Michael Bias was also back in the game with a 5th place finish. Another Kiwi was also in the main, Bennet Greenough finished 8th. In front of him were Jeremy Rencurel who celebrated his 30th birthday at the race, and Anaïa Istil who also looked very fast.
Men’s Results:
1: Leo GAROYAN
2: Arthur PILARD
3: Mathis RAGOT RICHARD
4: Pierre GEISSE
5: Michael BIAS
6: Jeremy RENCUREL
7: Anaïa ISTIL
8: Bennet GREENOUGH
Men’s Overall Ranking after Round 4:
1: Leo GAROYAN 179 pts
2: Jeremy RENCUREL 153 pts
3: Bennet GREENOUGH 136 pts
The next rounds of the French Cup will be in Sarrians BMX on June 7th and 8th, one week before the UCI World Cup, rolls into town, so we should expect a lot of riders from all around the world who will want to use this race as a practice session. But we also know the situation in Sarrians, it can be very tricky with the wind, so let’s hope for some good racing conditions this time out!
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