The third stage of the World Cup: April 30th in Basel.
The third stage of the World Cup, coupled with the first Swiss Inline Cup took place Saturday April 30th in Basel.
This proved to be an unusual race for the SAAB Salomon World Team as Arnaud Gicquel and Thomas Boucher did not participate due to minor injuries. Pascal Briand, Franck Cardin and Pier Davide Romani had to adapt their racing tactics to these new conditions.
The course itself had changed from the previous year with a relatively dangerous winding 5km passage and excruciating heat even though the start was at 7:45PM.
All of the international teams as well as numerous national Swiss teams were present, which heightened the attractiveness of the race and made it more animated. After a few rounds in a dense pack, Stefano Galliazzo (Mariani WRC), Mathieu Grandgirard (Fila International), Franck Cardin (Saab Salomon), Marc Christen (Bont Team), Mikael Lannezval (Inline Center Team) and Alexis Contin (Rollerblade) escaped and got far ahead of the rest of the pack.
Doubling skaters of different levels as well as packs of woman skaters made the visibility of escapes and the distance between the packs a lot more difficult. At 10km from the finish line Mikael Lannezval lead Stefano Galliazzo on an escape. The principal leaders of the other teams waited until the last straight line before the finish to start their final sprint.
At 200 meters from the finish, the pack caught up with Lannezval, who gave all that he had earlier on in the race; his sacrifice allowed for Stafano Galliazzo to take the first place for the Mariani team in 47�19�25. Luca Saggiorato took second place with a strong sprint and Luca Presti (Bont) and Pascal Briand (Saab Salomon) were close behind on his heels.
Franck Cardin and Pascal Briand thirsty for more action!
These two teammates of the Saab Salomon International team passionate about skating went directly from their Basel race to one in M�ru, France. This Class 2 race of the French Inline Cup took place Sunday May 1st.
Franck Cardin won this marathon. He was followed by Maxime Provost, and Pascal Briand came in third.
Next Races:
French Inline Cup Plouha: 5 May 5th
French Inline Cup Lille: May 8th
World Inline Cup Rennes : May 22nd
