Mountain biking: the winning return of Ludovic Delpech, winner of the Vauvert XCO

Au passage du talus, Ludovic Delpech mène la danse devant son frère Clément. Midi Libre – Jérôme Morin

Le licencié de Nîmes Cyclisme Ludovic Delpech, qui n'avait pas couru depuis juin dernier, a remporté dimanche à Vauvert la deuxième manche du Challenge gardois.

Transformed, for the duration of a Sunday, into a playground for mountain biking (XCO), the Plaines retention basin, in the town of Vauvert – twenty hectares on the horizon – has something to hold your attention. This was the case for the institutions of the French Cycling Federation, which submitted an idea to the leaders of Vélo Tonic Vauverdois. Idea picked up on the fly: "We have positioned ourselves to organize the regional cyclo-cross championship, next winter", announces, not a little proud, Thierry Pajot.
Sunday February 11, the president of VTV was no less happy to host the second round of a Gard Challenge of which his club, with a few others, had taken part in the launch, there at eleven years old.

250 mountain bikers signed the attendance sheet

During the day, from young people to masters, two hundred and fifty mountain bikers signed the attendance sheet. For them, nothing had been left to chance. Chemin des Plaines, there was a bit of everything in terms of difficulties, like the classic single tracks, muddy but not too much, lost in the woods. Simple passages to get in shape before tackling the more demanding ones. Like this “Grand Canyon”, bridge crossed above and below. Or, again, the “Roc Garden”, a sort of steep stone bowl that most runners passed when getting off their bikes.

Victory in front of his brother Clément

Back in 2024 after an absence of several years from the event calendar, the Vauverdoise round also marked the return to competition of Ludovic Delpech, 27 years old. Winning return.
"I’I was ill and I hadn’not raced since last June", explained the Nîmes cycling licensee, after finishing as the winner and in 1h18’15’& ;rsquo; the four laps of a 7 km course.
When cycling, you might as well do it with siblings. "At the start, with Clément (his brother, 2nd in 1h20’58’’), we took the pulse of the race and we saw that we were digging a little bit the gap. Afterwards, I took my pace and I left him little by little."

At home, Vauverdois Geniesse finishes on the podium

One of the locals of the day, Rémi Geniesse, did honor to the VCV, 3rd in 1h24’13’’, even at a respectable distance from the Delpechs. Ludovic, for his part, is getting off to a good start to a season whose objectives will be "the French Cups, mainly".

Complete results on the challengegardoisvtt.fr website. Next round on March 3 in Nîmes, at Mas d’Escattes. I subscribe to read more