Young athletes, promising trail running talents. Passionate, ambitious young people, eager to put themselves to the test with difficult challenges and routes, while dreaming of future participation in the most legendary races on the international scene, following in the footsteps of their team managers.
These are the characteristics of the young mountain running talents who are members of Karpos Team Espoir, which as of 2023 has a more international dimension. In fact, there are two teams that will wear the Karpos colors this season: French and Swiss.
The youngsters will together tackle a calendar of national competitions in the trail, vertical, and skyrunning specialties, sharing their personal and athletic growth.
The members of Team Espoir will thus have the opportunity to improve in various aspects, from running technique to the management of physical and mental resources during races, and to find their place in the racing scene, thanks also to the motivation provided by their peers.
Through Team Espoir, we want to pass on our way of experiencing trail running to the athletes of tomorrow, with the idea of creating a community of runners who see others as companions rather than opponents.
team espoir swiss
ELIE PELOT
Date of birth: 17/05/2005
Place of birth: Le Chaux de Fonds
Born in the Canton of Jura, Switzerland, in 2005, Elie discovered his love for sports at a very young age: football, cross-country skiing, mountain biking. During the pandemic, he took up trail running, almost out of necessity. Mountain sports soon became a true passion, to the point that when he turned 18, he was already running races longer than 30 km. In the future, Elie plans to continue raising the bar, both from an athletic point of view, sharing his passion with the Swiss trail runner community, and from a professional point of view, as he is about to complete his physiotherapy studies.
EVELYNE GILLIOZ
Date of birth: 26/04/2006
Place of birth: Nendaz
Born in 2006, Evelyne comes from the Canton of Valais. Though still on the threshold of adulthood, she has already demonstrated her abilities in trail running, her main passion, as well as in ski mountaineering. Knowing her background, it’s not surprising. From a very young age she’s always been a high achiever and demonstrated a great love of the mountains near her home, completing her first 4,000 m at just 8 years old. In 2023 she concluded the racing season with a 4th place in the national trail running championships, suggesting that, despite her age, the best is yet to come. For Evelyne, results are surely not far off!
FRANCESCO CESCHI
Date of birth: 18/02/2001
Place of birth: Arbedo
Born in 2001 in the Canton of Ticino, Francesco quickly proved to be an all-round athlete, practicing every sport available in the area: cycling, mountain biking, orienteering, ski mountaineering, hiking, and, finally, trail running. And it is precisely in mountain running that the Swiss athlete has found his greatest passion, as his results demonstrate. Francesco has participated in international races in the SkyRace world championship.
HÉLÈNE GRAND
Date of birth: 02/04/2004
Place of birth: Valais
Also from the Canton of Valais, Hélène was born in 2004 into a family of athletes who almost immediately passed on their love for mountain sports to her. After having first tried ski mountaineering, Hélène discovered trail running during the pandemic. Today, she still has that feeling of freedom, accompanied by joy in the effort, that she felt back then. But she doesn’t seem to have had enough yet. For the future, Hélène’s goal is continuous improvement, racing with the other young athletes on Team Espoir.
THÉO CRETTENAND
Date of birth: 06/02/2004
Place of birth: Fully
Born in 2004 in Fully, in the Canton of Valais, Théo has felt the pull of nature and vertical sports since he was a child. He discovered his love for trail running almost by chance, on a day spent at his grandparents’ house watching an Ultra Trail World Series race on TV. From that moment on, the boy poured all his energy and ambition into this discipline, taking part in various national and international competitions. His future goals are very clear: training to compete at a high level in ultras and taking part in his dream race: the Mont Blanc Ultra Trail.
In addition, he would like to continue sharing his passion for nature with his girlfriend, tackling routes such as the GR20 traverse.
YANN HIDALGO Y VALDEZ
Date of birth: 21/07/2002
Place of birth: Neuchâtel
Yann, originally from Belgium and Ireland, has lived in the Canton of Jura since he was a child. Born in 2002, he grew up on football pitches, defending the goal of his hometown team. After turning 18, he began trail running, exploring the mountains in his local area. Discipline is Yann’s strong point: he trains as hard as he can to achieve his goals in the world of mountain racing together with the other athletes on Team Espoir, but at the same time he is focused on personal goals — first of all, the Lausanne traverse: Chamonix–Mont Blanc–Geneva–Lausanne, to be completed on foot and by bike.
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