During the end-of-year holidays, the sports editorial team at Le Figaro brings you a series on the “robbers” of the sports year, these personalities or entities not necessarily expected and who have been talked about in 2023. Today, the hat-trick French in BMX.
Nothing but blue. In August, in Glasgow, during the XXL world championships (bringing together for the first time the 13 cycling disciplines), the French, on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (July 26-August 11), made their mark by occupying the three places on the BMX podium. Romain Mahieu ahead of Arthur Pilard and Joris Daudet (Jérémy Rencurel and Leo Garoyan, finishing 5th and 7th in a final invaded by the French).
“I was riding to get the jersey. I knew what I had to do. I had won all my rounds. I had done everything to be inside in the final. I didn’t do the perfect lap, I made a small mistake on the 2nd row. But I managed, I didn’t get overtaken and yet I was starting to feel cramps towards the end,” summed up the winner in the Dauphiné after a rare hat-trick, only achieved by the United States during the first two editions. of the Worlds, in 1982 and 1983. A blue hat-trick which was reminiscent of the group shot of the French in ski cross during the Sotch Olympics in 2014 (Jean-Frédéric Chapuis gold medalist ahead of Arnaud Bovolenta and Jonathan Midol).
“We push each other, we motivate each other and this is the result. It makes us better year after year. It bodes well before the Olympics,” summarized Romain Mahieu. BMX and its fabulous hat-trick (like the cross-country mountain bike double with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot ahead of Loana Lecomte) stood out within a French delegation which finished second behind Great Britain in the medal table (37 medals, including 13 gold) of the Glasgow Cycling Worlds.
In September, in Sarrians in Vaucluse, the French scored a new hat-trick… during a World Cup round. Joris Daudet winning ahead of Sylvain André and Jérôme Rencurel. And to crown this prosperous season, Romain Mahieu pocketed the general classification of the World Cup (ahead of Daudet). The Blues pushed perfection to the point of winning eight of the nine World Cup rounds (five for Mahieu, four for Daudet and one for the American Cameron Wood). In the general classification of the World Cup, Mahieu succeeded his compatriots Denis Labigang (1998), Joris Daudet (2011) and Sylvain André (2017 and 2022). While waiting for more…
“The goal is gold in Paris. I have experience in Tokyo. We’re going to keep the same routine, the same recipe and we’ll go with that. If I ever have my place at the Olympics of course,” summarized Romain Mahieu on France Bleu.
Romain Mahieu (28 years old, 6th in the Tokyo Olympics) and the Blues will, on their land, try to put an end to a stubborn curse. Since the entry of BMX into the Olympic program (in 2008 in Beijing), the French team has never been able to win a single medal. In Tokyo in 2021, the Blues missed out on their final. Sylvain André and Romain Mahieu finishing 4th and 6th, with Joris Daudet falling while fighting for the bronze medal. Since then the discipline has regained its momentum. And nourished with legitimate Olympic ambitions in Paris after a crazy year…
