The 2023 FIM Trial des Nations (TdN) was staged high up in the French Alps at the ski resort of Auron where Team GB regained the title, they last won in 2018 with a polished performance by the British ladies in women’s category.
With imposing rocks and steep, loose climbs challenging the field over two laps of fifteen sections, the heat and altitude – Auron is seventeen-hundred metres above sea level – combined to test the skill and physical fitness of the best riders on the planet.
In the women’s category Britain’s Emma Bristow (Sherco), Alice Minta (Scorpa) and Kaytlyn Adshead (TRRS) got off to a perfect start with a clean opening lap giving them a two-mark advantage over Spain at the halfway stage.
Gradually easing clear, the British women then threw Spain a late lifeline with three marks lost on section eleven, but their rivals were unable to capitalise and also incurred three marks here and Britain’s eventual total of five gave them victory by a slender four points.
“We knew it was going to be low-scoring so the aim was to keep our feet up and we performed well on the harder sections to keep the lead throughout the day,” said Bristow. “It was a great team effort – we had been training together all week and I think it showed.”
In the Men’s category, Great Britain was the last nation to defeat Spain in a TdN, but Toby Martyn (Montesa), Billy Green (Scorpa) and Jack Peace (Sherco) were out of contention for a podium finish and their score of eighty-four placed them fourth.
Photos - FIM Pictures