There will certainly be a lot of emotion for Vincent Luis this afternoon, at 5pm, when he makes his final start on the world triathlon circuit. At 35, the Frenchman, a member of the French team for almost 20 years (junior, promising and elite selections together) will experience his last race in Torremolinos (Spain) with the blue jersey.
“I’ve known for a long time that this will be my last race,” the Frenchman told us this Friday from the Hôtel des Bleus. I chose it so it’s nice. I could do another year or two but really no, I’m leaving now, I feel like it’s time. »
World champion in 2019, in Lausanne, one of his best memories in blue, “the race he dominated the most”, “not very far from his parents, in front of all his childhood friends”, Vincent Luis believes he has served his time on the circuit. But those who live and train in Girona in Catalonia for a good part of the year are not saying goodbye to triathlon definitively given that next year they will participate in long-distance races. “It will be a new circuit, new athletes, a new environment, especially new places because I’m starting to get to know them,” he predicts. It’s exciting. »
He hopes to lead Léo Bergère to the world title
Bronze medal at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, 7th at the Rio Olympics, best individual placing, Vincent Luis was not selected for Paris 2024, a “victim” of the density of French triathlon. This Sunday evening, his current ranking does not allow him to aim for the world title, but he could well contribute to the pursuit of another Frenchman, Léo Bergère, bronze medal at the Paris Olympic Games and second overall before this last stage.
“The ideal race would be a good escape in the swim-bike section, and then try to put Léo in the lead and repeat what we did two years ago in Abu Dhabi. » There, like last year with Dorian Coninx’s title, the Blues managed to trap their direct opponents in the team and managed to win the world title, defying the odds.
And considering the form of the French team which already boasts five individual titles since the start of these triathlon and paratriathlon World Championships (Alexis Hanquinquant and Elise Marc among the paratriathletes, Ambre Grasset and Nils Serre among the juniors then Cassandre Beaugrand on Saturday for the women ), a new venture cannot be ruled out.
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