2023-08-13 17:06:33
Romain Mahieu celebrates his BMX Race gold medal during the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, August 13, 2023. Frenchmen Arthur Pilard and Joris Daudet complete the podium. ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP
No, it’s not the French championships, but the BMX Race world championships, in Glasgow (Scotland). At the starting gate, Sunday August 13, we could have been mistaken: five pilots out of eight approached the tricolor jersey. A rare density that will have succeeded in the French: the Blues have made a full house by achieving an unprecedented hat-trick. Romain Mahieu was crowned world champion, ahead of Arthur Pilard, in silver, and Joris Daudet, world champion in 2011 and 2016. The three men congratulated each other for a long time in the finish area. Jérémy Rencurel finished fifth and Léo Garoyan seventh.
“I’m not sure I realize, told Agence-France-Presse (AFP) the new world champion, Romain Mahieu. We push each other, we motivate each other and this is the result. It makes us better, year after year. It bodes well for next year’s Olympics in Paris.”reacted the driver from Sarrians (Vaucluse) who, at 28, created a surprise by winning his first world medal.
Confirm at the Paris Games
One year before the Paris Olympics, the signal is certainly positive, provided that the Blues ward off their Olympic curse. The most successful nation in world championships (133 medals, including 46 gold since 1982), France has only won two Olympic medals since the discipline was introduced in 2008. In Tokyo, the three Frenchmen present in final – including the new world champion Romain Mahieu – had to settle for runners-up in a race won by the Dutchman Niek Kimmann.
Moreover, during the 2022 European Championships, the French pilots had already been five to reach the final, for zero medals at the end. A disappointment that they were keen to erase. Among the women, on the other hand, Camille Maire did not go beyond the quarter-final stage on Sunday, but Tessa Martinez was crowned among the hopes.
The UCI cycling world championships end this Sunday in Glasgow. With 37 medals including 11 titles, France confirms its good form by rising to second place among cycling nations behind Great Britain, host of the championships.
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