“I slipped on the pedal at the start”, why Victor Koretzky lost the French mountain bike championships

Déception pour l'Héraultais Victor Koretzky qui termine 6e des championnats de France. MAXPPP – Mohammed Badra

Sixième des championnats de France de VTT, ce dimanche 5 mai à Levens (Alpes-Maritimes), le Lodévois a perdu toutes ses chances dès le début de l'épreuve à cause d'un problème technique. 

The selection is not yet official but there is no longer any doubt that Victor Koretzky, winner of the Olympic test event in September, and Jordan Sarrou, world champion in 2020, will defend the French colors at the Olympics.< /p>

Very fit lately, Koretzky only finished sixth on Sunday after completely missing his start. "J' I slipped on the pedal, it made me unclip the other foot. By the time I got back in the saddle, I was far away and then lost too much energy trying to get back on. I quickly realized it was dead, he said.

"I felt good, but that's how it is. It's not a big deal and if I get an Olympic title instead, it'll be just fine for me, he said. he added.

Koretzky offside, Jordan Sarrou made the difference in the second part of the race after first starting with Thomas Griot and his teammate at BMC Titouan Carod who was double title holder.

Lecomte wins among the girls

"We had a good team race. We were outnumbered with Titouan. I'm really happy to finish like that, it's just fun", he underlined. Sarrou won with 27 seconds ahead of Griot and 2 min 11 sec over Carod.

"I got sick at the start of the week, yesterday I wasn't at my best, but I did well to take the departure. It's confidence gained and it motivates me for this summer", insisted Sarrou who won his second French champion title after that of 2020.

Among the girls, in the absence of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the Savoyard Loana Lecomte (24 years old) outclassed the competition by winning alone by more than two minutes ahead of his first opponents. This is her fourth consecutive French champion title which allows her to get off on the right foot after having experienced "bad sensations" during a World Cup round in Brazil where she retired.