Paris 2024 Paralympic Games | Para road cycling: an exceptional French team rains medals
Just as they did this morning, Les Bleus went all out on the time trial circuit around Clichy-sous-Bois. Here's the story of a crazy afternoon of Para cycling on the road.
Three Medals in the Morning, Eight in the Afternoon! The Performance of the French Para-Cycling Team is Simply Exceptional on This First Day of Road Competitions in Seine-Saint-Denis.
Élie de Carvalho and his pilot Mickaël Guichard kicked things off. The duo showed remarkable consistency in the B category (for the visually impaired). Over the 28-kilometer distance, which they completed in 34 minutes and 23 seconds, they rode fast, very fast. Not fast enough to surpass Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos, but definitely fast enough to earn a well-deserved silver medal.
"It's incredible! We've been working for this for months, and now it's happening. It's amazing. The strongest won, so no disappointment, but we're getting closer and closer to first place. We have a fairly lightweight and rather enduring tandem, so the course suited us well! We studied it thoroughly, so we knew we could do well. For Friday, I think we'll be even stronger. We're aiming for the gold medal."
This race could have brought another medal to the French team, but bad luck struck the duo Alexandre Lloveras/Yoan Paillot: "There was an accident on the course. Emergency services were on the scene, and their vehicle took up a lot of space on the road. It happened in a turn that normally we'd take quickly, but this time we almost had to stop. We lost the medal here, no doubt about it," lamented the tandem, who indeed missed the bronze medal by just a second and a half.
Bronze for Dorian Foulon
Already a gold medallist on the track a few days ago, Dorian Foulon gave himself another moment of happiness by winning bronze in the C5 category. There was a big smile on his face after the race: ‘I'm very happy with my time! I finished strongly on the second lap, which is a good sign. I really have no regrets. It was hard to make the change from the track to the road, with all the emotions I experienced at the velodrome. I hardly slept at all on Saturday night. I needed two days to recover, but since yesterday I've been feeling better". On the road, we've got some great things to do, but we'll have to watch out for our foreign rivals’.
Le Cunff and Le Rousseau, the winning duo!
In the midst of the frenzy in the town of Clichy-sous-Bois, two men stood out from the crowd in the middle of the afternoon. They were Kévin Le Cunff and Gatien Le Rousseau in the C4 category. Le Rousseau started earlier and set a fine benchmark time at the finish line. But that wasn't counting out the power of the former professional road racer (Kévin Le Cunff rode for the Saint Michel-Aubervilliers team based in the département). With a time of 36 min 46, the Frenchman gave his rivals no chance. The hug with his partner as he crossed the line was one of the images of the day.
‘It was Gatien who told me I had the best time. I wanted to stay in my bubble throughout the race so I had no indication. It's really cool to do the double like that. I was afraid when I left the track that I'd finish these Games without a medal. Now it's done, I can relax even more for the road race. This gold medal is a relief"* explains Kévin Le Cunff.
‘It's just great! I set off strongly to be in front at the split time. But then I got a bit stuck, and Kévin took time off me. Technically, I was below him today. Out of a total of fifteen or so bends, times two because there were two laps, that's a good 30 seconds lost. I also had a scare on the last lap so I preferred to keep my lines straight. After the bronze on the track, it's great to win this silver medal,’ added Gatien Le Rousseau.
The Surprise of Thomas Peyroton-Dartet
At 39 years old, Thomas Peyroton-Dartet (C3 category) arrived quietly at these Paralympic Games, the first of his career. At the first intermediate time check, the native of Muret was in sixth place. It seemed like today might not be his day. Wrong! By the 14th kilometer (out of 28), the Frenchman had set things straight, taking the lead and never letting go. Averaging 44.1 km/h, he dominated this time trial, finishing 43 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
"The course suited me perfectly! In a way, you could say the Games are already a success, but I need to stay focused until Sunday because, with Alexandre, we could achieve something special. I’m already looking forward to Sunday to race with a good friend."
And Another Double!
The rain of French medals continued until 5 PM! The last representatives of Team France competing today, Mathieu Bosredon and Johan Quaile, gave the crowd one final gift. Bosredon claimed his first Paralympic medal, a gold, while Quaile took the silver in the H3 category. Mathieu Bosredon left no chance for his competitors, finishing more than two minutes ahead of his fellow Frenchman. Thanks to them, the French medal count soared even higher, reaching 49 medals, including 15 gold.
Loïc Vergnaud, Silver Suits Him So Well
And that makes four! The man from Roanne (Loire) has claimed his fourth Paralympic silver medal today. The first three were won in Tokyo in 2021, and this latest one comes after a strong performance on the Clichy-sous-Bois circuit. Behind the unbeatable Mitch Valize (Netherlands), the Frenchman did what was needed to further bolster his record in the H5 category.
Notably, Joseph Fritsch finished fourth in the H4 category, and the duo Anne-Sophie Centis/Élise Delzenne also took fourth place in the women's B race.