Matîs Louvel: "Beach MTB is like road racing »
On this first Sunday of December 2022, Matis Louvel will compete in the French Beach MTB Championship, in Berck in the Hauts-de-France. With some ambitions.
“I have quite a few friends who are from the Hauts-de-France region, and I myself lived in Berck-sur-Mer for a year. So I have often talked about the discipline of beach biking with them. Last year, I went to see the race in situ. It has always attracted me. This season I managed to find a beach bike, and above all the time, to try it out. Last week in La Panne I ran my first beach bike competition, and I must say that it’s quite similar to a road race, in the sense that we ride in a group, and it’s very hard. We ride in a group, it rubs, and we can even hit the curb. But it is still technical, like a cyclo-cross. For me it is a mix between cyclo-cross, mountain bike and a classic. I don’t have too many ambitions for Sunday, because I don’t know yet where I stand in relation to my opponents. Last week was a trial run for me in Belgium and it didn’t go too badly, even if I made some tactical mistakes. But I had the physical level to be with the leading group, I think. In any case, I hope to be on the podium of this French Championship 2022”.
The number
The week before the French Championship, Matîs Louvel competed in the Beach MTB in La Panne, Belgium. He finished 15th in this competition.
The news
Donavan Grondin will also be wearing a bib this Sunday 4 December, he will be taking part in the “Mégavalanche de la Réunion”. It’s a mix between enduro and downhill mountain biking“, he says. I’ve always wanted to do this event, and this year the team has given me the go-ahead so I can take part without taking any risks. It’s really for fun, I’m going to race it with the people from the bike shop where my dad works”. Finally, one of the leaders of the Arkéa-Samsic team, Warren Barguil, will line up on Saturday at the start of the “0-3000” triathlon in Reunion Island.