Gran Premi València - C. Champoussin: "apply what we have worked on"
Clément Champoussin will take part again this Sunday in the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València. A first for Andrii Ponomar and Jenthe Biermans under Team Arkéa-Samsic colors.
“We have recognized the course of Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València during the January training session with the team, in Altea. The first part of the race is relatively flat, and the final part is more hilly from Castell de Castells. There are two kilometers of slope before the descent. It will be for me a good course to “put in motion”, to see where I am before the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise. The Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València is scheduled at the end of the course, it is the conclusion of a good block of work and it will allow me to validate all that has been done during the winter, but also to see in a race situation where my condition is at the beginning of the season”.
“I think we will have several assets for the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València within the Arkéa-Samsic team. It is a course that we have recognized in part and that I like. I’m looking forward to getting back into competition to measure the feelings I have in training. Mine are good, I had a good winter, that’s why I want to transpose all that to the race. The competition is the best indicator to measure the work done beforehand, that’s why I’m really eager to start again, to put on a bib”.
“The Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València is divided for me into two parts. The first part is very flat, the only factor that can influence the first eighty kilometers is the wind. It can be very strong in the Valencia region, as we were able to measure this week during the Arkéa-Samsic team’s training session. From kilometer 90 on, the road starts to twist. The first difficulty is encountered, and the more the kilometers go by, the more the difficulty increases. The Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969 – Gran Premi València marks the beginning of the professional season in Europe, and already 190 km is not neutral, especially with 2300 meters of D+. It is an important race for us because we want to start the year 2023 well, but we also know that it is never easy to put a number on a first race. There is always a part of stress, of questioning. We have worked hard, but all the teams have done the same. We will try to have a good race with a homogeneous team composed of climbers and riders with a good speed, if there is a small finish.”