Sabrina Jonnier Wins French National DH Championships
After two years of derailed national championship campaigns, 2009 Downhill World Cup Champion Sabrina Jonnier of Team Maxxis-Rocky Mountain regained the French title on a dusty course at Val d'Isère, France this past weekend
Jonnier, who currently leads the 2010 UCI World Cup overall, said it was not an easy task on the dusty, rocky and constantly changing course. "It felt more like a small World Cup race with five of the top girls from the World Cups competing for the title," she said.
Jonnier, who hails from Hyeres, in Southern France, took the 2010 French title with a time of 3:12. Florian Pugin finished second with a time of 3:14 and World Champion Emmeline Ragot took third. Also vying for the title was defending French champion Cline Gros and Myriam Nicole.
"I am very happy because this wasn't my kind of track and I had to work very hard. It wasn't technically challenging, but the track kept changing with the dust and the rocks were coming up and every run was different," she .
The track featured high-speed sections that ended in flat square turns, which Jonnier found difficult to hold speed through. "I had a terrible qualifier as usual," she explains. "I don't know what is wrong with me... I messed it up. I qualified third and was three seconds behind Florian Pugin, so I was pissed off," she laughs.
When asked whether qualifying first was better or not strategically, Jonnier laughed and said she didn't like waiting at the top or the bottom of the hill.
While Jonnier took some time to find her speed on the track at Val d'Isre, it came together for her race run, despite strong side winds in the jumps at the top of the course.
"I could finally find some speed, but it was still not the way I normally ride. I was missing something - I wasn't feeling comfy on the track. I was very worried at the finish because I had done a 3:12 and I wanted to do a 3:08 - that was the time that I thought would be the winning time. So when I crossed the line and saw my time I thought it would be hard to win. I knew the two girls behind me were pretty fast as well," she smiles.
