The famous Teva extrem race was organised in Italy the second week end of June. Usually, this competition takes place in the Val Sesia. This year the staff decided to move the race in two different areas in order to get the best conditions:
- the grade V race was set on the Upper Chiusella, a top river section lost in the middle of the mountain of the Val Chiusella,
- the slalom race took place on the artificial river of Ivrea.
There were definitely two perfect choices !!!
As every year, two French team were ready to compete. The first one was composed of Pyreneans fella : Fafa Pueto, Max Mitaut et Eric Deguil and the second team included Feuille, Val Grolmound and myself.
The first day, we discovered a very exciting river with a perfect water level. By the way, we really took our time to scout all the details in order to choose the best lines for the long and technical section of the qualification. We also scouted the section of the Upper Chiusella (finals). Very steep and challenging, perfect for a real extrem kayaking race!
During the first two days, the spectators could see the individual race (I finished 30th, I made two big mistakes on the qualification section) and then, the team race. Fafa, Eric et Max did kayak pretty well, they finished second. We were less lucky. Val and I finished alone the race because our friend Feuille broke his boat on a rock (a 40 cm slit).
“Magic Feuille, don’t change yourself !”
Nothing dramatic, it is the rules! We were all happy to be in this beautiful area with good friends, sunshine, and a real challenging river!
The most important is to enjoy, and we did so, especially during a freeweel session on the last waterfall.
The next events were organised on the slalom section at Ivrea where a mountain bike, climbing and running competition took place in parallel.
The slalom race was very difficult: this start with an “American slide” from a slope, then a set of challenging gates, a lot of full power kayakers on an overflowing river. A small mistake can cost you a lot time at the end.
The results on the Chiusella were combined with different races during the slalom in Ivrea. The Pyrenean dudes realised a really good performance, they finished second of the team race. Well done guys!
We did the slalom race for fun, because we lost all the chance to access on the podium on the river…
This week end was great: an amazing atmosphere created by people coming from all Europe.
Well, a great outdoor sports meeting under the sun with a lot of friendly spectators. I won’t forget it, and I won’t forget the last night and the all kayakers with their crazy fancy dress. So fun!!!
Enjoy yourself!
Stefun
Thanks for the pics at Peter Lintner and Raph Thiebaut
