Victoire Berteau becomes champion of France, and succeeds Audrey Cordon-Ragot

2023-06-24 18:41:15

Victoire Berteau was crowned French road cycling champion by winning on Saturday June 24 in the road race in Cassel, in the North. On her land – she is from Douai – the 22-year-old runner (Cofidis) won after a suffocating end of the race, overcoming her breakaway companions in the last meters of the ascent. final.

Accompanied by the 2019 French champion Jade Wiel (3rd, FDJ-Suez) and Coralie Demay (4th, Saint-Michel Mavic Auber 93) 30 kilometers from the finish, Victoire Berteau showed patience, until she saw Marie Le Net (2nd, FDJ-Suez) join the leading group a few hundred meters from the final line. In the last wall of the Cassel circuit, the surprising track rider then took the lead, beating the riders of the FDJ-Suez team at the post.

The “Chti”, in addition to winning a major national success, won at the same time its first victory on the professional circuit. An event as unexpected as hoped: “I heard my first name everywhere, it was really crazy, I heard my parents every time I passedtold Victoire Berteau at the microphone of Eurosport. I’ve never won, and I’m winning for the first time in my life in the French championship, it’s wonderful. »

A tough journey and a surprising result

In the pre-race, all the signals led to believe that the route of this race in line was reserved for punchers. With 99.8 kilometers and almost 2,000 meters of elevation gain, Hazebrouck-Cassel made the peloton suffer, its first part, quite flat, having quickly given way to a bumpy loop, which the riders had to complete six times.

If Victoire Berteau overcame it in 2 hours 57 minutes and 33 hundredths, the defending champion, Audrey Cordon-Ragot (12th, Human Power Head Health), announced among the favorites, was unable to pull out of the pack. , concluding the race almost two minutes later.

Another contender for the national crown, Juliette Labous (Team DSM) finished in 8th place. Disappointed but a beautiful player, the 24-year-old runner wanted to salute the winner of the day: « The shot did not go off the pedal. But I’m really happy for Victoire, a girl you always see at the front in the races. »

Asked about a potential participation in the Tour de France 2023, Victoire Berteau answered in the negative, preferring, she says, “preparing the track world championships, with a view to Paris 2024, [son] target for next year.

Valentin Baudry