Célia Gery proved Sunday that she’s a rider to watch no matter the race surface. She won her first elite national title at the French Cyclo-cross Nationals in Troyes with an upset of race favourite Amandine Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw).
At 19 years of age last year, Gery took on the Women’s WorldTour with FDJ-SUEZ and then captured the spotlight with the women’s U23 world title in Kigali in the road race.
“I can’t quite believe it. I had a lot of doubts before the race. It’s really great to win here,” Géry said at the finish line to France 3, also reported by L’Equipe.
“Amandine [Fouquenet] and I broke away right from the start of the race. I felt that she was very strong in the physical sections. That’s what made me doubt myself a little for a while. But I saw that in the technical sections, I could widen the gap a bit to win today.”
Her battle for the rainbow jersey in September was much closer, as she attacked with a small group on a cobbled climb in the final kilometres and used a final kick in the sprint for a two-second win over Viktória Chladaňová (Slovakia). That sprint made history as the first standalone U23 women’s road race at Road Worlds.
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