Thibault Guernalec: "I gave it my all, I finished "bursting"".
Thibault Guernalec takes 10th place in the 2021 French elite time trial championship in Épinal. Matîs Louvel was 18th.
ON THE LINE
“I was within the times of a top 5 over forty minutes of racing today. It’s probably the heat that made me bend. I took a water bottle in the feed zone and frankly at that moment the water was so cool that I thought it was a “mirage”, but it was very short-lived! The body can come down in temperature in such heat if the effort is forty minutes or so, but on a one hour time trial it’s a problem. I have no regrets, I gave it my all and I finished with a bang“.
“ This time trial is the longest I have ridden since the beginning of my career. I used to ride a lot in the younger categories, but as I got older I stopped riding because there weren’t too many competitions to ride in. I went back to it when I turned professional. I find a lot of pleasure in this type of race, especially as we have excellent equipment in the Arkéa-Samsic team. Setting times is also a good investment for me for the future“.
THE DEBRIEF
“It is always difficult to give an analysis of a time trial like this on the spot. This event is never an easy exercise. I think that Thibault is disappointed tonight because the objective was the top 5. He didn’t reach it, but after a time trial it’s the legs that speak for themselves: we will have to analyse why he wasn’t in a good position today at the French Championships”.