COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
Guyader and Barbotin on the throne of the FIC first stage in Lille
Communiqué du 03/03/2008
The two best skaters on the marathon distance in France, Yann Guyader (Team Powerslide) and Nathalie Barbotin (Alessi Powerslide), won the first stage of the French Inline Cup 2008, the Ch’ti Roller in Lille, North of France. They both proved that they were in a very good shape after the winter break, giving no chance to their opponents. In the men’s race, only Julien Levrard (Team LSC) was able to follow Guyader to the end, but the World champion was faster in the sprint…
The skies were grey, the temperatures quite low and there was a lot of wind in Lille, but no rain. Fortunately, the circuit entirely flat permitted to the French and Belgium pack to achieve some good races, with a lot of attacks, some breaks and some massive sprints.
And the first attacks were held from the very start of the men’s race: Richard Deniaud (single licence) tried to go alone after 150m of race, and he was only swallowed in back after 4 km. The second attack was conducted by Yann Guyader (Team Powerslide), with Kévin Gauclin (RPM Poli) and Vincent Esnault (Team LSC) in his wheels. The trio was soon transformed in a group of five when Julien Sourisseau (RPM Poli) and Julien Levrard (Team LSC) joined them. But only this last one was able to follow the speed of Guyader; the others finally gave up and reintegrated the peloton!
The race was then a story of duos: Guyader and Levrard ahead, Deniaud and Fabien Hascoët (RPM Poli) then, and the main pack two minutes later. Nothing really changed till the end of the race. Guyader and Deniaud won their group’s sprint, and Maxime Provost (Rollerblade France) the one of the peloton.
The women race was a story of power. Nathalie Barbotin, with 110mm wheels on her skates, decided to make the difference right from the start, and she broke the pack quite quickly: there were only Hilde Goovaerts (Team Cado Motus) and Ghizlane Samir (London Skaters) who were able to follow her. But both of them finished alone, because Barbotin accelerated again and again, in order to insure her victory. And she did: she crossed the line with about two minutes on Goovaerts and Samir!
With this first victory in the FIC series, Barbotin and Guyader made the demonstration of their goals in 2008: Barbotin has still the will and sent a clear message to her opponents; Guyader is not anymore the outsider and he showed there was only Levrard who was able to follow him on the French scene…
The skies were grey, the temperatures quite low and there was a lot of wind in Lille, but no rain. Fortunately, the circuit entirely flat permitted to the French and Belgium pack to achieve some good races, with a lot of attacks, some breaks and some massive sprints.
And the first attacks were held from the very start of the men’s race: Richard Deniaud (single licence) tried to go alone after 150m of race, and he was only swallowed in back after 4 km. The second attack was conducted by Yann Guyader (Team Powerslide), with Kévin Gauclin (RPM Poli) and Vincent Esnault (Team LSC) in his wheels. The trio was soon transformed in a group of five when Julien Sourisseau (RPM Poli) and Julien Levrard (Team LSC) joined them. But only this last one was able to follow the speed of Guyader; the others finally gave up and reintegrated the peloton!
The race was then a story of duos: Guyader and Levrard ahead, Deniaud and Fabien Hascoët (RPM Poli) then, and the main pack two minutes later. Nothing really changed till the end of the race. Guyader and Deniaud won their group’s sprint, and Maxime Provost (Rollerblade France) the one of the peloton.
The women race was a story of power. Nathalie Barbotin, with 110mm wheels on her skates, decided to make the difference right from the start, and she broke the pack quite quickly: there were only Hilde Goovaerts (Team Cado Motus) and Ghizlane Samir (London Skaters) who were able to follow her. But both of them finished alone, because Barbotin accelerated again and again, in order to insure her victory. And she did: she crossed the line with about two minutes on Goovaerts and Samir!
With this first victory in the FIC series, Barbotin and Guyader made the demonstration of their goals in 2008: Barbotin has still the will and sent a clear message to her opponents; Guyader is not anymore the outsider and he showed there was only Levrard who was able to follow him on the French scene…
