TRIAL DES NATIONS: France, La Bresse 22/09/01

Norway topped the podium in the Trial des Nations for ladies!
Preceding the men's Sunday competition was the Saturday Women's Trial des Nations, and it featured a great podium battle between Germany, Spain and Norway. In the end, the Scandinavians came out on top, but it was anything but easy, as the points spread between first and third was only a single point. (Spain tied Norway , but lost out based on number of dabs).
Despite the closeness of the contest, most had little doubt that the victory had gone to the better overall team. The Spaniards had only one extraordinary rider - 15 year old phenomenon Laia Sanz<- while the Nordic's three rider team of Linda Meyer, Kjesti Fla and Siri Minken was more balanced. The win was also appropriate considering Norway's history of supporting women's rights, indeed in their country more than 40 women attend the National Championship.
As with the men, the recent tragic events in the eastern U.S. prevented that country from sending a squad, so the American continent was represented only by Canada (including the Williams sisters, Kerry and Christy). The competition was organized using 12 of the 18 sections prepared for the men and each contained a blue line for the women to utilize.

Due to the heavy rain dropped during the previous week, the ground was very wet and the stones very muddy and slippery. This aided France, which had drawn the first starting slot, giving the home team better grip on the first loop at least. French star, Bertrand Claire, was applauded everywhere, but her two teammates were sweating simply to finish each section.

The German team proved to be more balanced, led by. European champion Iris Kramer (who rode very confidently) to the lead at half competition.(Scores were calculated using the two best results in each sections, and although three riders are allowed, some teams just went with two). Germany had 23 points after one loop, trailed by Spain's 29 (despite Sanz's cleaning the entire loop!), with the eventual winners only third with 32. France was just two points back, so the competition was still wide-open.
Things stayed close in the second loop, though France slid (literally) when its riders had to face the same slippery conditions as its rivals. In the end, the podium was topped by come-backer Norway, with Spain and Germany taking second and third, respectively. Canada's Williams sisters didn't appear to have the necessary concentration, and their team came in fifth, just four points behind the home team France.
As for the British, this unlucky team was hurt by the fact that its strongest rider, Rachel Buckey (on the podium in Spain round of 2001 European Championship) injured her knee while practicing the day before and did not participate. In addition, Vicky Ellis stretched a tendon of her thigh and will be forced to miss the upcoming women's competitions.
In the individual not official results, Sanz won with just one point, with Bertrand taking second on 11 and third going Kramer with 12. Completing the top five were Britain's Marie Conway (20) and Norwegian's Linda Meyer (30).