Kern claims French time trial title

Christophe Kern (Europcar) claimed his first elite national championship with a dominant performance in the time trial at Boulogne-sur-Mer. The 30-year-old topped Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Geoffroy Lequatre (RadioShack) by 1:15 on the 45.2km course.

After nearly ten years as a professional, Kern has finally found the legs and the confidence for winning after prevailing on the Criterium du Dauphine stage to Les Gets earlier this month and finishing the race sixth overall.

"Having won in Les Gets, it all clicked. I knew I had good legs," Kern said to AFP.

Kern's spectacular ride may have been helped by a little extra adrenaline before his start time. "I was upset because my headset wasn't working five minutes before the start, but I told myself, "Do your time trial, ride fast!"

"I hear my father who was following me with my coach say, 'you're the best time at the first check'. The first check is my weak point: I'm always behind at the first intermediate time point. I knew it was a good sign, I had paced myself well, so I picked it up."

Kern said his recent performances were good indicators ahead of the Tour de France. "It is always good for my confidence and the trust of my team."

Riblon was pleased with his second place finish after struggling with injury in the past few weeks.

"Second place is a great satisfaction even if it is not a victory," he said in a statement. "I could not do better today and I have no regrets. I had some back problems after the Dauphiné and I was not sure where my form was upon arriving at the French Championships. This result proves that fitness was always there and it puts me at ease before the Tour de France.

"My back problems led me to slow down a bit and it may have been a blessing in disguise. Last year, I arrived at the championships a little tired. Here I enjoyed a certain freshness and it could be beneficial in the Tour de France. "

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Christophe Kern (Team Europcar)0:59:42
2Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale)0:01:15
3Geoffroy Lequatre (Team RadioShack)Row 2 - Cell 2
4Anthony Roux (FDJ)0:01:31
5Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis)0:01:49
6Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep Cycling Team)0:01:50
7Damien Gaudin (Team Europcar)0:01:56
8Jerome Coppel (Saur - Sojasun)0:02:15
9Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale)0:02:28
10Dimitri Champion (AG2R La Mondiale)0:02:30
11Nicolas Vogondy (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)0:02:45
12Stéphane Rossetto (Cc Nogent Sur Oise)0:02:50
13Jérémy Roy (FDJ)0:03:00
14Paul Poux (Saur - Sojasun)0:03:01
15Brice Feillu (Leopard Trek)0:03:04
16Damien Monier (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)0:03:06
17Rémi Pauriol (FDJ)0:03:10
18Nicolas Baldo (Atlas Personal)0:03:17
19Yuriy Krivtsov (AG2R La Mondiale)0:03:18
20Cyril Lemoine (Saur - Sojasun)0:03:26
21Christophe Le Mevel (Team Garmin-Cervelo)0:03:37
22Yoann Paillot (Top 16 Cyclisme)0:03:40
23Johan Le Bon (Bretagne - Schuller)0:03:41
24Anthony Delaplace (Saur - Sojasun)0:03:43
25Thibaut Villa (Champagne Ardenne)0:03:45
26Thibaut Pinot (FDJ)0:03:46
27Jérôme Pineau (Quickstep Cycling Team)0:03:47
28Kevin Lalouette (Roubaix Lille Metropole)0:03:52
29Romain Bacon (Big Mat - Auber 93)0:04:02
30Jean Edouard Antz (Amical Velo Club Aixois)0:04:04
31Matthieu Boulo (Roubaix Lille Metropole)0:04:12
32Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne)0:04:23
33Jerome Cousin (Team Europcar)0:04:27
34Eric Berthou (Bretagne - Schuller)0:04:50
35Fabien Sidaner (Brest Iroise Cyclisme)0:04:51
36Romain Lemarchand (AG2R La Mondiale)0:04:55
37Sébastien Turgot (Team Europcar)0:05:07
38Kévin Reza (Team Europcar)0:05:10
39Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ)0:05:14
40Sébastien Fournet Fayard (Veranda Rideau Sarthe)0:05:18
41Franck Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau Sarthe)0:05:33
42Alliaume Leblond (Ile De France)0:05:50
43Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ)0:06:02
44François Lamiraud (Cr4C Roanne)0:06:06
45Niels Brouzes (Vc Rouen 76)0:06:17
46Florian Le Corre (Roubaix Lille Metropole)0:06:26
47Yann Guyot (Ile De France)0:06:39
48Florent Mallegol (Brest Iroise Cyclisme)0:07:08
49David Skrzypczak (Nord Pas De Calais)0:07:10
50Sébastien Duret (Bretagne - Schuller)0:07:57
51Kévin Fouache (Chambery Cyclisme Formation)0:08:39
52Bastien Delrot (Team Worldofbike.gr)0:09:27

 

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