World Championships Les Gets 2022 – Silver for Amaury Pierron & Bronze for Myriam Nicole

What a World Championships! There was so much suspense and the crowd were completely crazy! The French public came out in force to support their riders and it was one to remember! Although it rained all day on Friday, the track had time to dry out for finals on Saturday and it was still as fast, meaning riders could stick to their lines as practiced throughout the week.

Unfortunately, Myriam Nicole wasn’t able to win a second consecutive World Championship title. Even if she was the fastest on the top section of track and into the woods, the last section was not kind to her and she lost too much time. She still climbed onto the podium with a wonderful bronze medal! She said afterwards, "I'm not going to lie, it's a bit frustrating. I was hungry for a better result, but I couldn't find the speed. Doing well at home was important to me. We had to ride free and I couldn't do it, I lost too much time on the last jumps. Vali and Nina were amazing today. Thank you to the public who have been incredible all week!”
Now, Myriam must give everything this week in Val di Sole for the last round of the World Cup, as she's still in the game to win the overall.

It was an incredible performance from Camille Balanche, who placed 4th, barely three weeks after breaking her collarbone during the World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne. Congratulations to her for this express return! European Champion Monika Hrastnik came 5th after a solid run. She was clearly one of the fastest and was not far from snagging a World Championship podium. Behind, Mille Johnset and Siel Van Der Velden finished 13th and 16th respectively. 

The Elite Men’s race was like nothing we’ve seen before! The suspense boiled right until the last rider, Amaury Pierron, and in front of more than 70,000 spectators! Amaury came very close to winning his very first rainbow jersey, but eventually came away with the silver medal. It was a perfect podium all the same, since he was joined by his compatriots and friends Loic Bruni and Loris Vergier for an incredible rendition of the Marseillaise, in Les Gets, France! Amaury said, “I have no regrets about my run, I rode fast and well, I only came across one better than me. I still have to work to get there with Worlds. I would have liked to have won, but this 100% French podium is just magnificent! Kudos to Loic.”
Like Myriam, he will have to give everything this weekend in Italy to win a second World Cup series after his last in 2018...

Benoit Coulanges finished 10th on the day, after a superb run in qualifying that saw him fastest. It was a solid race for him despite one or two errors. Antoine Vidal, who had started earlier in the afternoon, also had a magnificent race. On the limit as usual, he put on a show, got the crowd going, and ended up 14th! Thibaut Daprela finished his day in 18th. It was a clean run but he was lacking in speed through the first part of the track. Austin Dooley was close to the top 20 in 23rd. South African, Theo Erlangsen was 38th.

Amongst the Junior Women, Isa Bouladou had a superb race, taking 5th place! Alizée Lassus was 8th. As for the Junior Men, Hugo Marini was our first Frenchman in 8th. Jack Piercy was 11th.

Thank you to every rider, and Les Gets, for these magnificent World Championships! Find more interviews and behind the scenes on the COMMENCAL Instagram account!

Photos : Keno Derleyn / Ross Bell / Jey Crunch / Nico Brizin