France successfully entered the world track cycling championships on Wednesday in Roubaix, where it secured two medals in the team events.
The team sprint trio took silver behind the Netherlands, again top in an event they have dominated since 2018. The pursuit quartet advanced to the final, scheduled for Thursday, against the favorites Italy and their Filippo Ganna locomotive.
«We are happy with what we did, we approached the Dutch, we even put pressure on them in the first round, to a tenth of a second», Explained Sébastien Vigier, the relay of the group who is also the most experienced for his fifth World Championships.
«In the final, they raised their level again, not us, but we are on the right track», Added the Francilien. “We were highly motivated for the final, we gave ourselves 110% but they (the Netherlands, editor’s note) were even faster».
On a track that is not known for its speed, the French trio approached their time for the Tokyo Olympics (42”550 against 42”294) which had earned them the bronze medal in Japan but far from the two finalists , the Netherlands and Great Britain.
«If our base time is 42”5, there is plenty to build for the future», Rejoiced Vigier (24 years old) on the same line as his two cadets, the starter Florian Grengbo (21 years old) and the finisher Rayan Helal (22 years old).
The pursuers in the final
«We are a young team, which has a lot to learn, we embody a new generation“, Added Grengbo, who notes”a little lack of transmission»In the French sprint school covered with medals for a quarter of a century.
«It’s a beautiful story, we weren’t that close six months ago“, Underlined the young rider from Bourg-en-Bresse, a beginner in the Worlds. “This is also what makes us strong.»
«Tokyo has been there», Confirmed Vigier about this team which reconnects with the French tradition under the direction of Herman Terryn, their trainer of the national pole of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
In the final, the Dutch trio Olympic champion and world title holder (Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland) won by the margin of 57 hundredths of a second.
«We have to workHelal commented. “We are no longer light years away as in the last Olympiad. It’s good to see that we are all making progress. We hope that next year it will be for us.»
The other French team in the running, the pursuit, broke the French record set at the 2020 Worlds in Berlin by almost two seconds. He thus reached the final, the best performance of the “BluesIn this event in the 21st century.
Valentin Tabellion, Thomas Denis, Benjamin Thomas and Thomas Boudat, already credited with second fastest time in qualifying behind Italy, completed the 4 kilometers from a standing start in 3’47 ” 816. Just over a second behind the quartet Italian Olympic title holder (3’46”760).
In this event, the last French medals at the Worlds date from 2003 and 2000 (bronze), as well as 1999 (silver).
.
