Cécile Ravanel is over the moon. The coaching of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Vali Höll, saw his 2 athletes become World Champions. The first in Cross-Country, the second in Downhill. I'm in Italy this week, for thelast stage of the UCI MTB World Cup, and Pauline has already won, a few hours ago, the short track race. A good opportunity to talk to Cécile.
As a coach, is it a dream to see Pauline and Vali world champions in their respective disciplines?
Yes, it is a dream. True. I had already dreamed that each of them would win a World Cup round in the season and if it happened at the same time it would be exceptional. But to do it at the World Cup it's amazing!
Did the training plan and the choice of races expect to be at the top for the World Cup?
With both of them they were aiming for it since the beginning of the season. All of Pauline's physical and technical preparation was centered on the World Cup. The same goes for Vali. The goal of every athlete is to become World Champion, especially when you have already won World Cup events. But there's always that little bit of luck needed, which we had last week. When everything goes according to plan, whether it's race strategy with Pauline, or training strategy with Vali. The pressure you generate. A little difficult to make at the beginning of the week. Now there is so much fatigue, especially mental, and the athletes want a stop, There is total relaxation and also the relationship with the media is gratifying but stressful. The girls are so stressed. But I want to say: "luckily they are solicited".
How did they manage the training between Les Gets and Val di Sole, the last stage of the world championship?
Earlier in the week, they were able to stick to their initial plan. Now they have gone to sensations. In any case, both are in the clouds. We hope it will last until tomorrow for Vali and Sunday for Pauline.
You can follow all the action live this weekend in Val-di-Sole, su Red Bull TV.
