2023-08-16 09:21:08
At 75, from Brécey (near Mont-Saint-Michel), André Petipas is a multi-medal winner. Passionate about cycling, he returned from the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow with two Rainbow jerseys. An extension of his record, and he does not intend to stop there.
Manager of a consulting, research and methods company in industry, André Petipas arrived in Barentin, near Rouen (Seine-Maritime) in 1976. As a footballer, “I discovered cycling by chance, because I was alone and I wanted to do sports. It was a neighbor who took me to the Vélo Club de Barentin where I took my first license in 1980. From that moment on, I rode around 5000/6000 kilometers a year and discovered competition. I won several regional titles including that of Champion of Seine-Maritime in 1985.”
2020 Track World Champion
Sprinter and track rider, the Normand joined the Barentin Cyclosport club in 1990, where he is still a member. But it was in retirement that the cyclist revealed himself: “I obviously had more time. I now drive nearly 15,000 kilometers a year and I take part in training courses, including those at Le Soleil in the south of France, where I am road captain. Since then, I have become French Masters Champion ten times (one title on the road, five in time trials and five on the track). I also won a World Track Championship title in Manchester in 2020 and a silver medal on the road in 2019 in Italy. Cycling has become a real passion for me which allows me to maintain my physical condition and my motivation”, says André Petipas. And, he knows what he is talking about since on March 24, during an hour record attempt on the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines track, he had to give up following an illness.
A fan of Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Tadej Pogacar, André Petipas entered once again during the qualifying events for the 2023 UCI World Championships (which took place from August 3 to 13 in Glasgow) in the category M10 (from 75 to 79 years old): “In May, in Perpignan, I won the road race and the time trial. In each category, they took 20% of the first and that in each country. I then studied the course, looked at the prize lists of the other competitors and I trained during endurance or intensive outings. I also paid attention to my weight during all this preparation. »
In Manchester at the end of September
And, it paid off since on Friday August 5, over the 88 km of the road race between Glasgow and Edinburgh, starting in a peloton of 80 runners, including 20 in his category, André Petipas waited in the shelter for the last 700 meters to land a powerful acceleration that left all his opponents, even the youngest, on the spot. Then, three days later, he showed all his power and experience on the track to trail an American by three seconds in the time trial: “It’s a great satisfaction and it was a lot of emotion during the formal ceremony, especially at the time of the Marseillaise. Now it’s not over, because I’m leaving for two courses in the Alps and at the end of September I’ll be in Manchester for the Track World Championships. I am qualified in pursuit, for the race for points and scratch. There, there will be a lot of strategy and power! »
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