UKC

IFSC Lead World Cup Briançon: Report

© Dark Sky Media

The third round of the 2016 IFSC Lead World Cup circuit saw competitors congregate in Briançon, France at the weekend. In similar weather conditions to the first round in Chamonix, rain delays disrupted the planned schedule, but unlike in 2014 when the finals were cancelled due to lightning storms, this year's event fortunately went ahead between bouts of rain. Slovenian couple Janja Garnbret and Domen Skofic took double Gold once again - a repeat of their performance in Chamonix.

Romain Desgranges takes a rest in the men's final  © Dark Sky Media
Romain Desgranges takes a rest in the men's final
© Dark Sky Media

With qualifiers and semi-finals both planned to take place on Friday to ensure contingency, all eyes were watching the weather forecast. Nine women and eight men qualified for Saturday evening's final, with young competitors Kajsa Rosen (SWE) and Sascha Lehmann (SUI) making their first Lead World Cup finals amongst an otherwise experienced field of climbers.

Janja Garnbret on her way to winning her third Gold medal of the season  © Dark Sky Media
Janja Garnbret on her way to winning her third Gold medal of the season
© Dark Sky Media

The women's event opened the show despite a heavy downpour of rain delaying the start time. Escorts wielding umbrellas brought the climbers out to the foot of the wall to prepare under the cover of the overhang. First out were French climbers Mathilde Becerra and Hélène Janicot, competing in front of a home crowd. Both women reached a point high on the headwall with Hélène securing an early lead. Dinara Fakhritdinova (RUS) made her first final since becoming the victim of a knife attack in Moscow last year, although her small stature didn't suit the wide moves on the final climb and she fell lower than her qualifying position might have suggested. Austrian teammates Jessica Pilz and Magdalena Röck achieved an identical climb, both reaching 38+ with Jessica finishing ahead on countback. Janja Garnbret (SLO) continued her winning streak, topping out the climb but being awarded 43 after timing out just short of the chains. Anak Verhoeven (BEL) and Jain Kim (KOR) both had a disappointing climb in light of their respective 2nd and 3rd place finishes in the previous rounds. Anak's hand slipped during a dynamic co-ordination move halfway up the climb, and Jain misread the delicate top sequence despite having made a smoother climb than Janja up until her fall, putting Anak in 8th and Jain in 4th position. Austrian climbers Jessica and Magdalena rounded off the podium in 2nd and 3rd place - shaking up Anak and Jain's consistency in Chamonix and Villars.

Women's Podium: Pilz, Garnbret and Röck  © Dark Sky Media
Women's Podium: Pilz, Garnbret and Röck
© Dark Sky Media

With water streaming down the wall and holds sufficiently damp, the routesetting team set to work on attempting to dry the men's route. Doubts crept in and a men's final was looking unlikely, until the showers subsided and the blow-dryers and chalk made the route climbable. Sascha Lehmann (SUI) put in a valiant effort in his first final, reaching halfway through the steepest section. French climbers Romain Desgranges and Gautier Supper were the first to reach the headwall with a protruding volume providing much entertainment for the crowd. Austria's Jakob Schubert had a disappointing run, falling low on the wall after slipping and making reference to the wet conditions. Following his win in Villars last weekend, Sean McColl (CAN) looked capable of a repeat performance, but he fell just short of Romain's highpoint, finishing in 3rd position. Domen Skofic of Slovenia took his second Gold of the season after a slight glitch in Villars, making one move further than Romain to take the win. 

Men's Podium: Desgranges, Skofic and McColl  © Dark Sky Media
Men's Podium: Desgranges, Skofic and McColl
© Dark Sky Media

Team GB had two competitors competing in the event - Jim Pope and Dave Barrans, who finished 43rd and 60th respectively.

The next round is in Imst, Austria next month.

Watch the replay of the finals with co-commentary from UKC's Natalie Berry.

Results:

MENs lead

Rank Name Nation Qual' Semi's Final
1 Domen Skofic SLO Top  1. 43+ 37+
2 Romain Desgranges FRA Top  1. 40+ 37
3 Sean McColl CAN Top  1. 41+ 35+
4 Gautier Supper FRA Top  1. 37+ 34
5 Masahiro HIGUCHI JPN 39+  8. 36+ 24+
6 Sascha Lehmann SUI 39+  8. 36+ 24
7 Urban Primozic SLO 34+  13. 36+ 20+
8 Jakob Schubert AUT Top  1. 40+ 16
9 Stefano Ghisolfi ITA 39+  8. 36  
10 Meichi Narasaki JPN 34+  13. 35  
11 Hanwool Kim KOR 37+  12. 33  
12 Francesco Vettorata ITA 34+  13. 32.5  
13 Ramón  Julian  Puigblanque ESP Top  1. 32+  
14 Sean Bailey USA 39+  8. 32+  
15 Thomas JOANNES FRA 34+  13. 32+  
16 Hannes Puman SWE 29+  29. 32+  
17 Mario Lechner AUT 34   20. 29  
18 Charli BLEIN FRA 29+  29. 28+  
19 David Firnenburg GER 29+  29. 27+  
19 Rustam Gelmanov RUS 29+  29. 27+  
43 James Pope GBR 29+  29.    
60 David Barrans GBR 28   51.    
Full results

WOMENs lead

Rank Name Nation Qual' Semi's Final
1 Janja Garnbret SLO Top  1. Top 43
2 Jessica Pilz AUT 40+  9. 44+ 38+
3 Magdalena Röck AUT Top  1. 41+ 38+
4 Jain Kim KOR Top  1. Top 35+
5 Hélène Janicot FRA Top  1. 36+ 33+
6 Mathilde Becerra FRA Top  1. 36+ 32+
7 Dinara Fakhritdinova RUS 38+  20. 37 23
8 Anak VERHOEVEN BEL Top  1. Top 20+
9 Kajsa Rosen SWE 40+  9. 38+ 18+
10 Risa OTA JPN 40+  9. 36+  
11 Katharina Posch AUT 40   14. 36+  
12 Delaney Miller USA 39+  15. 36+  
13 Julia Chanourdie FRA 44+  7. 35  
14 Ievgeniia Kazbekova UKR 39+  15. 35  
15 Salomé Romain FRA 40+  9. 30+  
16 Anne-Sophie Koller SUI 40+  9. 30+  
17 Tjasa KALAN SLO 44+  7. 27+  
18 Hannah Schubert AUT 38+  20. 26+  
19 Seuran Han KOR 36+  24. 25.5+  
20 Nolwenn ARC FRA 36+  24. 20  
Full results

 


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26 Jul, 2016
Thought this was a really interesting comp, despite the weather, for a number of reasons. It was interesting to see Yann's routesetting at a World Cup. I thought it was well done and interesting to watch, not often you get a final's route with such a good rest on (like the men's) so good to see something a little different from the norm. Janja's top was particularly impressive, after drying her boots halfway up, then fighting through the first bit of the top section, there was that massive runout to the anchors on wet holds. I presume that route must have been at least 8b. I thought the women's event might mess up after multiple tops in the first two rounds but it all came good in the end with no need to use time as a measure of position. And interesting co commentary by Yann and Natalie in the different rounds. Even Mr. Boscoe seemed to be better commentating at this event. Will the Slovenians take the double this year?
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