WIC Rennes

The World Inline Cup in Rennes is famous for being a wet weather race, but not this year. Some weather forecasts said rain and thunder but the bad weather held off and it was a dry race for both the men and women. The womens field of around 50 skaters started at 1.45 under pretty mild weather conditions unlike past years. The wind wasn't strong, the temperature was warm and of course no rain. Unlike the World Inline Cup races in Switzerland which are usually point to point or held on big circuits the Rennes course was 2.7km a lap through the city streets. The course is renowned as being tough due to cobbles, bricks, rough stretches of road, tight corners and a slight hill that has to be skated every single lap with a hairpin corner at the top.

For the past three years the womens race in Rennes has been won in a breakaway, so naturally a lot of people tried to escape. I have been in all the breaks the past three years and instigated nearly all of them so of course it was planned that I try to escape with another member of the Bont Wheels Team. Tamara, Alexandra and myself all attempted numerous times to escape but we were all chased down pretty rapidly as we were a marked team. Cecilia's job was to conserve as much energy as possible just in case it came down to a pack finish. With attacks being made causing the pace to constantly surge and the course taking it's toll the field of 50 soon dwindled down to about 25.

Tamara, Alexandra & Cecilia, Nicole
Photo - Francois & Marie

Throughout the race there were set sprint primes and one mystery sprint. I think this is a great idea, it makes the racing exciting for both the spectators and skaters. I had planned to attack over the top of the field after these sprints and while doing so picked up third place in three of the sprints. Alexandra was also third in the mystery sprint.

With three laps to go the pack was still together and it was looking like the race would end in a bunch sprint. A couple of last minute attempts were made by skaters to get away. It's risky to attack at this stage, being so close to the finish you risk using up all your energy but often the pack hesitates in chasing and someone can slip away. When these attacks were made I didn't hesitate and chased them down straight away because I knew our team had saved Cecilia for the sprint finish.

Going into the last lap quite a few teams wanted the first position in the pack. With narrow streets, corners and uneven road leading up to the finish straight our team plan was also to be in the front out of trouble and in control. With more than a kilometer to go Tamara took the lead for our team and lead us to the front of the pack. Once our team hit the lead Tamara kept the pace steady so we could not be swamped or easily passed. After going around the last tricky right hand corner Alexandra took over the lead for a few meters before Cecilia opened up for the last 150 meters to take the victory. It was a great day for the Bont Wheels Team taking not only the victory but also 2nd, 4th and 11th.

Heading into the final corner, Tamara leads.
Photo - Francois & Marie

There are some great photos from Francois & Marie and there should be some video up within the next few days on Bont TV.

Cecilia Baena


Womens Podium
Nicole Begg 2nd, Cecilia Baena 1st & Melisa Bonnet 3rd


Gearing Up

I felt a lot better this week and had more energy than the last race. I was able to open my mouth wider than last week when I took the bands off. So before the race I was able to have a banana, weetbix and really tiny pasta with sauce, no actually it was more like sauce with a tiny bit of pasta. Before the race last week I wasn't able to have anything semi solid, so it was a huge improvement this week.

Womens Results

1.Cecilia Baena, COL, Bont Wheels
2.Nicole Begg, NZL, Bont Wheels
3.Melisa Bonnet, ARG, Inline Center Matter
4.Alexandra Vivas, COL, Bont Wheels
5.Natalia Artero, ARG, Inline Center Matter
6.Marta Ramírez, COL, Bont IDRD
7.Hilde Goovaerts, BEL, Cado Motus
8.Liana Holguín, COL, Inline Center Matter
9.Nadine Gloor, SUI, Rollerblade IBU Austria
10.Sara Ervitti, VEN, Bont Bacatá
11.Tamara Llorens, ARG, Bont Wheels
12.Laetitia Le Bihan, FRA, Sarthé Loops Racing
13.Mariska Huisman, NED, Cado Motus
14.Jana Gegner, GER, Rollerblade MPC
15.Sara Bak, DEN, Rollerblade IBU Austria
16.Rommy Muñóz, COL, Bont Bacatá
17.Giovanna Turchiarelli, ITA, Powerslide Alessi
18.India Kuhn, SUI, X-Tech Crocs
19.Tina Struever, GER, Schankel World
20.Cinzia Ponzetti, ITA, Powerslide Alessi