'I had a lot of doubts before the race' - Célia Gery upsets pre-race favourite Amandine Fouquenet for French Cyclo-cross national title

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.

Riding cyclo-cross for AS Bike Racing-France Literie, Gery turned 20 just days ago and celebrated with a solid victory against Fouquenet. As the top U23 rider in the event, she earned both tri-colour jerseys as national champion.

“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."

Fouquenet, 24, came into nationals with the momentum of eight elite podiums this season, including back-to-back Superprestige wins at Heusden-Zolder and Gullegem which had her in second overall in that series. She was ranked third overall in the World Cup as well, thanks to recent top fours at World Cup Zonhoven, Dendermonde and Gavere. She came into Nationals as the defending elite women's champion.

On the second lap of Sunday's contest, Fouquenet was in the lead, but faltered on twisty sections and was passed by Gery. The 20-year-old then surged away on lap three to win by 33 seconds.

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.

Two seasons ago as an 18-year-old, Gery won the French junior women's cyclo-cross title and three weeks later topped that with a junior title at the World Championships in Tabor. This season racing among the elites she had three C2 victories in the fall and was sixth at World Cup Gavere.

Gery will be a favourite in the French colours at Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hulst, February 1, expected to improve from fourth place last year in the women's U23 race.