ROUND 10 - MILLET SKI TOURING COURCHEVEL - Wednesday 27 February 2019

10th Millet Ski Touring Courchevel: William Bon Mardion moves ahead!

The final stretch before the grand fancy-dress final on Wednesday 20 March, with the band Magic System, who will close this 9th season in style. The sprint is on for everyone who wants to take this 2019 record, finish the season with a personal best or simply be ranked in this race, which has become the reference for Vertical Race events. This 10th round, with ideal conditions for good performances, was a huge success, with 144 ski mountaineers of various nationalities and a great many spectators who came to cheer them on.

Winner of the extraordinary Dynastar X3 triathlon in 2017 and 2018, William Bon Mardion, after his 3rd place in the individual World Cup event at Super Dévoluy in early February, broke the record with a time of 23min08s and dethroned Joris Perillat Pessey in the overall standings. Will Juillaguet, a member of the organising club Courchevel Sports Outdoor, took second place in this 10th stage in 24min26s ahead of Yoann Caillot (24min50s). The fight for the final victory promises to be fierce: the top 10 are within 2 minutes, and Xavier Gachet, French champion in the discipline, will be on the start line of the next round.

Among the women, Lorna Bonnel, having won her first 2 international medals (bronze medallist in the sprint at the Super Dévoluy World Cup and in the individual at the Fort Blanca World Cup), posted her best time of the season in 28min16s and won ahead of Véronique Lathuraz (31min13s) and Catherine Juillaguet (31min47s). Despite this performance, she stays in 4th place in the provisional overall standings behind Ekaterina Osichkina (26min58s), Laura Deplanche (27min32s) and Corinne Favre (27min35s). As with the men, the final podium is not yet settled because of the small gaps and the announced arrival of French champion Axelle Gachet-Mollaret next week.

In the ESF challenge, the instructors from La Toussuire lead the race with the win by Lorna Bonnel and the provisional overall lead for Laura Deplanche in 27min32s. Among the male instructors, the stage win went to Nicolas Mater of the ESF Courchevel Village in 29min46s, with Joris Perillat-Pessey of the ESF La Clusaz retaining the lead in 23min14s.

Special mention to Joanny Hatot, the youngest competitor of the evening, who at only 8 years old took the Silver Trace in 51min23s. Many of the resort’s holidaymakers came to discover this 3.2 km course with 500 m of elevation gain, such as Arnaud Lengele (52min42s), accompanied by his instructor Philippe Mugnier, Mayor of the resort.

At the end of this 10th round, and since 26 December, 1,163 starts have been counted, a clear increase on the last 2 years, with 588 different ranked runners. 3 rounds remain, on Wednesdays 6 March, 13 March and 20 March (final), to finalise the various overall standings.