Cycling: Héraultais, Gardois, Lozériens… Why are there so few of them in the world peloton ?

It's a real question: why are there so few locals in road cycling, when the playing field is ripe for it.? Here are some answers.

Brittany, Paca, Normandy, Auvergne… French champions often come from the same regions. Rarely, if ever, do we see a former Languedoc native shine in the world peloton. However, on paper, the landscapes of Hérault, Gard and Lozère seem like an ideal playground. 300 days of good weather per year, the Cévennes, the Pyrenees and Mont-Ventoux just a stone's throw away… So, what's the catch? ?

First, culture. Road cycling is a religion in Brittany, like rugby is in the South West. Which is not the case in the former Languedoc, although the Sunday rider is not an endangered species. The figures speak for themselves. Each of the four Breton departments has between 42 and 48 clubs with a “road cycling” branch, compared to 25 in Hérault and 16 in Gard.

Read also: Étoile de Bessèges: Claudine Fangille and her daughter Tiphany fight to keep the race alive, in the name of the father…

Second, local races. Apart from the Étoile de Bessèges, very few races, except the Tour de France, visit the three departments of Languedoc, which could establish a possible legacy. The stops of the Grand Prix Midi Libre in 2002 or the Tour du Gévaudan in 2019 were a loss for the region.

Even at the amateur level, races are missing. “Cycling is less developed in the south of France than in the northern regions. As an amateur, you just have to look at all the races in Brittany, in the Pays de la Loire, compared to where we are. There are races for all levels. If you don't go into exile, you can't hope for much”, analyses Nicola Marcerou (22 years old) from Gard and TotalEnergies.

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“A question of funding”

“It's a bit frustrating for me, who is passionate about cycling, adds Alexandre Delettre (27 years old), also from Gard and Total. When I arrived in the region at 13-14 years, there weren't many structures to help young people develop at the amateur level. You can go from the cycling school to the cadets. After that, you have to go to Paca or Rhône-Alpes.”

“For me, it's a question of financing”, assures Anthony Maldonado, former professional and organizer of an amateur race in Manduel (February 9). “We have the same climate as in Aix-en-Provence, which has high-level amateur structures. There is plenty of room here and that is my project for the future.”

Traditionally, riders who settle in the South favor the Côte d'Azur and Nice, bastions of French cycling. “In the former Languedoc, there is everything you need to ride. Even in terms of traffic, it is more interesting than the Côte d'Azur. But custom dictates that riders leave for Nice. Then there is the airport which is perhaps better served than Montpellier or Nîmes”, assures Joona Laukka, former Finnish rider and current agent, now living in Béziers.

Less than a third of licensees dedicated to road cycling

Finally, in the south of France, many young people are turning more towards urban disciplines (BMX) or mountain biking. In Hérault, out of the 1,544 licensees with the French Cycling Federation, only 454 are dedicated to road cycling. “Cycling in Hérault is certainly at the maximum it can do with the means it has”, explains Juan Ferreira, head of the Hérault committee. Very few facilities are dedicated to us.

“We have very few young people and non-existent national or international results in road or track. The clubs with facilities are BMX and mountain biking. These are also the disciplines in which we have the most results (Laury Perez, Anthony Jeanjean, Victor Koretzky, Myriam Nicole and several titles among young people).”

In short, it's all about identity. High-level road cycling is not yet part of it.

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