The announcement of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team on Monday sent a "phew" of relief to all the volunteers working on the event: Mathieu van der Poel will be there on Sunday in Besançon for the last round of the cyclo-cross World Cup season, a one-hour race on a circuit combining cycling and sometimes running. “I had a lot of disturbed nights before knowing if he was going to come or not, says Pascal Orlandi, president of the Amicale Cycliste Bisontine, which organizes the event. It was really important for us to welcome a star. »
When the road cycling season has not yet started, Raymond Poulidor's grandson is a cyclo-cross star, quadruple world champion in the discipline. In recent weeks, he's been elevating the World Cup alongside two other successful 'backpacker' cyclo-crossers, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock. The "Fantastic Three" stir up crowds in winter. “We hope to accommodate 8,000 people,” says Orlandi. That is double the round organized in Besançon in November 2021. Only thanks to the presence of Van der Poel.
Nothing to do with Belgium however, where many more spectators enjoy this golden age of cyclo-cross. “In France, when we say cycling, we mean road cycling. In Belgium and the Netherlands, we mean classics and cyclo-cross,” says Steve Chainel, former professional rider, World Cup commentator for Eurosport and promoter of cyclo-cross in France.
"I've been traveling the Coupe de France circuits for twenty years and I see among young people a popular attraction for this sport," he says. Listening to the various actors who roam the undergrowth, cyclo-cross has a future in France. "We have young people who are largely capable of being among the very best," confirms Pascal Orlandi. So why doesn't France have at least one sporting champion in its ranks?
"An appendix to road cycling"
The cultural argument removed, one of the main reasons is that cyclo-cross is not an Olympic discipline. The French Cycling Federation (FFC) distributes the majority of state allocations over those present at the Olympic Games (road, track, mountain bike, BMX). The other obstacle, "is that the discipline is seen as secondary, an annex of road cycling during the winter period", explains Sylvain Duployer, vice-president of the FFC in charge of cyclo-cross.
Earning a living as a cyclo-crossman is almost impossible today. Julian Alaphilippe, cyclo-cross champion among the juniors, has won his greatest successes and tied his best contracts on the road. Steve Chainel had a similar fate: “My fourth place in the cyclo-cross world championships allowed me to turn professional in road cycling when I had no reference. Running on the road is, in France, the guarantee of being able to live from your passion.
Some cyclo-crossmen have to turn away from their first love. "If someone had asked me what my dream was as a junior, I would have said it was to be a cyclo-crossman," said Clément Venturini, rider for AG2R Citroën. But professional teams see winter as a period of preparation for the coming season and nothing else.
"At first, I didn't understand. But these teams are in an economic logic, explains Steve Chainel. A sponsor invests money in a team to have advertising fallout during the Tour de France. If a rider does cyclo-cross in the winter and gets injured, the sponsor is not going to agree. Not to mention the budgets to send staff to the cyclo-cross season..."
Some teams are starting to get caught up in the game
Despite everything, "the consideration of French teams for cyclo-cross is evolving", assures Sylvain Duployer. For a year and a half, Venturini has been back in the undergrowth, after agreeing with AG2R Citroën on a modified schedule. "It's a great source of motivation and satisfaction," said the runner, who won the French championship on January 15. "Cyclo-cross is not incompatible with the road," he says.
Van Aert and Van der Poel are the perfect examples: both take advantage of the characteristics of cyclo-cross – explosiveness, power, technique – to prepare for the period of the Flanders and Ardennes classics at the start of the road season, when their backpacking teammates are generally in training in the sun, in Spain. “You have to be honest, it was thanks to them that AG2R agreed to invest part of the winter in me,” Venturini admits. Sylvain Duployer, he would like to see the latter more on the sleeves of the Coupe de France.
In the meantime, the vice-president of the FFC is trying to change the discipline by extending the Coupe de France season. Two races instead of one over a competition weekend. Four weekends of competition, or even five by 2024, instead of three currently. "It is not with three Coupes de France that we make a discipline", argues Duployer.
“These proofs should allow us to show that there is a good brand image to spread. This is how we will generate interest, ”said the vice-president of the FFC. A long-term strategy that Steve Chainel tries to follow within Cross Team Legendre, the only professional cyclo-cross structure in France. "We are looking for investors who could help us develop the discipline and allow young people to have a future as cyclo-crossman", explains the ex-professional.
Fortunately, exploits know no borders or nationalities and those of Van der Poel, Van Aert and Pidcock are priceless publicity for cyclo-cross. "It's fantastic to think that thanks to them, we can consider more private partners, in the future", welcomes Chainel. "At the bottom of the hole a few years ago", French cyclo-cross seems to be heading in the right direction. "But the process will be long," warns Sylvain Duployer.
