Alexandre Ferrer rode extremely well yesterday in the opening round of the French Trials Championship in Tanneron (Var), winning the first round and finishing second in the second round.

On a magnificent course that was set in the high mountains, the SHERCO team rider demonstrated that he has completely recovered from the physical problems that handicapped him last year. He had to postpone his attempt to win the French Championship until 2012. Coached by former Expert rider Guillaume Laniel, Alexandre was able to show off the beautiful new outfits of Team SHERCO of FRANCE.

Despite a time penalty costing him 2 points, Alexandre won the first round of the French Championship and might well have won the second round except for a failure in the first section, an area he had easily passed without fault in the first round. Alexandre was never able to recover from this error and had to settle for second place.

Alexandre Ferrer : “It was a beautiful trial, it had a wide variety of obstacles and steep climbs, it was a very tricky trial, it delivered a good fight especially on the first round. I made a serious mistake in the first section on the second round which cost me the victory, but it is a good day. This is very encouraging for the future, it shows that working with Laniel has achieved positive results. I hope to thank him for the sacrifices he has made to work with me by doing something good.”

Cedric Tempier also had a great performance, the 2011 French Champion in Senior 1, placed third in his first race in the Expert class.
Several other TEAM SHERCO riders had great performances, Ludovic Viano placed third in both rounds in the Senior 1 class, Matthieu Hernando finished third in general classification in Hope 1, Pierre Sauvage finished second in Hope 2 and won the victory in Hope 3, Maxime Varin and Laurie Erharht received trophies in the female class.

Didier Valade (Team Manager): “I’m really happy for many things, of course for the great victory by Alexandre which is a reward for his hard work, and downright amazed by the performance of Cedric Tempier, he rode extremely well in his first ride in the expert class. But even above the great results obtained by the team, I am overwhelmed by the excellent working atmosphere and friendliness that prevails in this group. I am very happy with the state of mind, the ethics and sportsmanship of our riders.”