From June 23 to 26, 6 titles will be awarded, in the chief town of the Maine-et-Loire district. Cholet, land of cycling, where the “Cholet Pays de la Loire Cycling Grand Prix” takes place each year, therefore hosts the 2022 French Elite and Amateur Championships.
French Championships: Time Trial
At 1 p.m. on Thursday June 23, on Avenue du Commandant de Champagny, the 111th edition of the French championships will kick off. On the programme, two time trials on Thursday and a road race on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The 2022 French championships will begin with the “Elite ladies” time trial, 25.3 km long. An urban departure before a passage at kilometre 6 in La Tessouale. There will follow a forest passage, until km 13.9 and the passage to the supply zone. During this forest passage, the runners will pass the first intermediate located after 9.1km at the top of a difficulty of 1.1km. After 19.7 km will be located the second intermediate point of the time trial, also at the top of a difficulty, in the village of Mazières-en-Mauges. The various competitors will then dive back into Cholet with a long false flat descending 2 km to the red flame located after the roundabout at Place Dorohoi. After two right-angled bends, the runners will land on the avenue du commandant de Champagny, where the finish will be located. At around 3:10 p.m. (according to the FFC timetable route) the last female will cross the line and we will know who will succeed Audrey Cordon-Ragot, winner in 2021, in Epinal (Vosges). After the arrival of the last rider, the Elite and Amateur men will begin their time trial.
French Championship: Road Race
Friday the amateurs will open the ball of the race in lines. The same 20 km circuit will also be used for the Elite Women and Elite Men races. On Saturday the women will complete 6 laps, or 120 km. The weekend will end with the men’s race: 240 km long. The online circuit is mainly urban. It is therefore 20 kilometres long, linking the towns of Cholet to La Séguinière. The start and finish will be located at the same places as for the time trial, on Avenue du Commandant de Champagny. After 6.300 kilometres in the second city of Maine-et-Loire, all the competitors in each event will head to La Seguinière by the Avenue des Trois Provinces. At the exit of this village after 10km, the biggest difficulty of the course will await the applicants with tricolour jerseys. The peloton will then return to Cholet, via rue de Saint-Antoine and the D13. Between the two municipalities, borders may take place making the race tough for the teams of sprinters and sprinters.
The team will take all of its French riders with the exception of Manon Souysis, since there will be 8 of them at the start of the road race on Saturday morning and two for the time trial on Thursday afternoon in Cholet. Two riders will make the pass of two (time trial + road), namely Séverine Eraud, winner of the 2019 French time trial championship and Marion Colard, who joined the team last season.
Photo Credit: Nicolas Vaucouleur