A busy time for Team ENGIE after the summer holidays

After a fine summer dominated by news about the Olympic and Paralympic Games, our athletes gradually returned to training and, for some of them, to competitions.

KITE SURFING: Axel Mazella, Poema Newland and Alex Caizergues

^{_{Photo credits : Schwartz}}

The European Championships: two titles for the Team’s kite surfers

On 12 September in Montpellier, France, Team ENGIE kite surfers Axel and Poema both won a European Champion’s title! It was Poema’s first title and the third win for Axel, who has been European Champion since 2019.

The Kite Foil World Series: Poema and Axel in the lead in the provisional rankings

The Team’s kite surfers excelled in the first three rounds of the Kite Foil World Series!
Reigning champion, Axel Mazella, finished second in the first round in Gizzeria, Italy, behind Russia’s Denis Taradin. He then took his revenge by winning in Austria and in Cagliari, Sardinia in the second and third rounds. Poema also finished second in Italy, then third in Austria and second again in Sardinia.

The next rounds will take place in Jandia on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, from 23 to 27 November, then in Maspalomas on Gran Canaria, from 30 November to 4 December.

The Kite Foil World Championships: Axel wins silver and Poema finishes fourth

The recently crowned European Champions, Poema Newland and Axel Mazella, had great ambitions for the kite foil World Championships in Italy.
Axel confirmed his standing on 17 October. He was amongst the front-runners in all 14 races, and fought for the lead with his compatriot, Théo de Ramencourt, all week long. After the last two races, Théo de Ramencourt finished ahead of Axel, who finished runner-up in the World Kite Foil Championship.
Team ENGIE kite surfer Poema finished in fourth position in the women’s championship, after being placed third in the provisional rankings before the final.

The ENGIE Kite Tour: Axel and Alex first, and Poema fifth in the provisional rankings before the last round and the grand finale in Leucate on 12-14 November

After a great first round in Lorient in June, the ENGIE Kite Tour visited La Grande Motte on 24 to 26 September 2021 for an unmissable event. Despite the tricky wind conditions, the foils completed 11 races in the three-day competition, in which Axel finished second and Alex finished in first place.

For the penultimate round of the 2021 competition, the ENGIE Kite Tour headed for Arcachon on the Atlantic coast from 22 to 24 October 2021. Despite the lack of wind on the last two days of the competition, the kite foils completed a total of six races on the Friday, in which Axel finished second and Poema and Alex finished first in their category.

Alex Caizergues, Axel Mazella and Poema Newland will all be in Leucate from 12 to 14 November for the fourth and last round of the 2021 ENGIE Kite Tour.

^{_{Photo credits : Eric Bellande - FFV}}

SURFING: Pauline Ado

Challengers Series: Pauline is in 11th place in the provisional rankings before the last round.

Last summer, Pauline Ado qualified for the Challengers Series circuit, gaining an opportunity to qualify for the 2022 professional Championship Tour.

After the US Open, and before a final event in Hawaii in November, the Challenger Series visited Europe for two rounds in October: the MEO Visla Pro in Ericeira on 2 to 10 October and the Quiksilver/Roxy Pro France on 16 to 25 October.

After a difficult competition in California, France’s Pauline Ado put in a good performance by finishing third in the Ericeira Challenger Series, placing her in fourth position in the overall rankings. The Team ENGIE surfer was then close to qualifying for the 2022 Championship Tour, to which only the top six will be admitted after the round in Hawaii.

But on 18 October, the Quiksilver/Roxy Pro competition in Hossegor did not go as planned for the Team’s surfer, who was knocked out in the second round and lost valuable points in her quest to qualify for the 2022 CT. After this round, Pauline dropped from fourth to eleventh place in the Challenger Series. If she manages to finish in the top six in the last round in Hawaii, Pauline will return to the Championship Tour, after a 4-year absence. Remember to support Pauline from 26 November to 7 December in Hawaii.

The French Open: Victory for Pauline Ado

The final of the French Shortboard Open took place on 12 October in Hossegor, in the presence of the top 28 French surfers (16 men and 12 women), who were selected for the final after the qualifying rounds in La Torche and Lacanau last July.

Three days after her excellent third place in the Challenger Series in Ericeira, the Basque surfer won the French Open at the Culs Nus spot, in readiness for the Pro France competition, which started three days later in Hossegor.

^{_{Photo credits : Laurent Masuel - Surfing france}}

iQFoil: Pierre Le Coq

The World Championships: 13th place at his first attempt

A few weeks ago, more than 220 windsurfers took part in the iQFoil World Championships on Lake Silvaplana in Switzerland. Team ENGIE windsurfer Pierre Le Coq finished in 13th place, just three points away from qualifying for the final in his very first foil competition. The event was a new challenge for Pierre, who had the opportunity to size up the competition and find points to be improved in readiness for the upcoming events, such as the European Championships in Marseilles at the end of October.

_{^{Photo credits : FFV}}

The European Championships: Pierre finishes four places short of the final

The iQFoil European Championships took place from 21 to 28 October at the spot that will host the sailing events in the 2024 Paris Olympics. After completing 10 heats in the men’s event, Pierre finished 12th out of 141, just four places off the final.

TRIATHLON: Cassandre Beaugrand

Triathlon Grand Prix: Victory for the Poissy club

The 2021 Triathlon Grand Prix came to an end on 12 September, with a victory for the Poissy Triathlon club. Their triumph was partly due to the excellent performance of Cassandre Beaugrand in the first three rounds of this French Championship for first division clubs. The Team ENGIE athlete won the first round in Dunkirk, then finished second in Metz on 4 July. On her return from the Tokyo Olympics, the young triathlete won the third round in Châteauroux. These excellent performances enabled her club to remain in the lead in the overall standings.

^{_{Photo credits : Christophe Gourdy}}

Super League: eighth place for Cassandre

In international circles, the Triathlon Super League resumed on 5 September. The programme: four rounds in four weeks: London, Munich, Jersey and Malibu.
The restart of the international circuit seemed to be difficult for the Team ENGIE athlete, who finished 10th in the first round in London, then 14th in the second event in Munich. But she picked herself up in Jersey with a fine third place, then finished fifth in the last round of the circuit in Malibu, where she was the best-placed French triathlete. In the overall standings, Cassandre is in eighth place, just behind her compatriot Léonie Périault.