For them, it is a real godsend. Even if everything does not correspond to what they hoped, with for example the impossibility of making a French Class 1 in 2025 due to the opposition to this project of the National Cycling League (read here), some amateur clubs have every intention of applying for the status of Federal Continental. This is the case of Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme, a club that has sent around ten riders to the professionals in recent years and won the Coupe de France N1 in 2023. Christian Milesi, historic sports director of the Bourg club, explains to DirectVelo the reasons which push his club to apply for this new label (read the instructions) set up by the French Cycling Federation.
DirectVelo: Why does Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme want to apply for the status of Federal Continental?
Christian Milesi: The Continentale Fédérale is something that corresponds to our expectations and our thinking in recent years, especially after the last season when we had four victories in Class 2 and the victory in the Coupe de France N1. We realized that we almost started from scratch last winter, nothing that we had done last year was valued or set in stone. We felt this measure well. I spoke about it in March on DirectVelo (read here) and what I said is almost what is proposed.
What can this status change for a club like Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme?
It may seem pretentious but some teams need to stand out. In 2022, we found ourselves with 27 in N1. It was harmful, we let too many people move up. This ultra-competition made clubs do stupid things. The only regulation criterion was sporting. Some lived beyond their means to save themselves. We see historic clubs like Vaulx-en-Velin and Saint-Etienne stop their team after wanting to get involved in the imposed war with 27 N1. We need to regulate and it cannot be done from the bottom. So we want to stand out from the other N1s, with a selection criterion from the top. We need to let teams come out to the top rather than let them die.
“SURPRISED BY THE RELUCTANCE”
According to you, there is therefore a real interest in having this status of Conti Fédérale…
Yes, there is a real interest. We are applying because we want to stabilize what we have done in recent years, it is not to say that we are a super N1. French, Italian and Belgian amateur cycling allows many riders to turn pro. Riders from many other countries benefit from it. We must save that, we should not become in a short time like Switzerland or England, with almost no organized races. And if the organizing clubs disappear… We are a historic country of cycling. We train Juniors and Hopefuls called to turn pro later. For it to last, we must be allowed to participate in the party. The opening is not huge, it is not a cataclysm for the pro world.
What can it bring you?
With this measure, we could do more Class 2. We hoped to be able to run very punctually in Class 1.
But the National Cycling League opposed this…
We don’t want a stolen status but something indexed in what is done everywhere in other countries. We don’t want to steal anything from anyone. Our demands are minimal. It’s a drop in the ocean so I’m surprised by the reluctance. In French cycling, we are hyper protectionist, we must keep that of course. We don’t want to tread on the toes of the French Continentals. The idea is not to go to all the Class 1 or the rounds of the Coupe de France but we would like a wild card on a Class 1.
For example, for you, you will be present at the Tour de l’Ain…
This is the key to finding partners. There is money circulating in cycling. In our department of Ain, there are regular arrivals of the Tour de France, the Tour de l’Ain, the Valromey… If we are allowed to participate in a Tour de l’Ain, we leave the money in the same bubble. It is common sense for cycling. In our sport, money does not come down from the professional world. It would open a small door for us to participate in a Class 1… We are not asking for more.
“WE WILL NOT DESTABILIZE FRENCH PRO CYCLING”
For a Continental which in France is obliged to pay its riders, the arrival of the Conti Fédérales which does not have this obligation is not necessarily a good thing…
Being in Conti Fédérale will allow us to do more Class 2, and I hope one or two Class 1 and that will be it. We are still in the training objective, with the rider at the center of the project. The idea is not to steal another team’s place but we want to be present in front of our partners. The organizer and the financiers would see it favorably. We can have the level occasionally. We will not have the bus of a Conti… We will only come across these teams very rarely. We are not going to destabilize French professional cycling. It is up to us to be intelligent. It must not be a personal project but a club project.
Today, where is your file?
We weren’t in the working group but we were very motivated by the project very early on. We are working on the financial part today, we don’t have all the answers but those we have are positive. We still have a piece of the budget to find. This sum will allow us to be more comfortable. Due to inflation, we have already had to increase the budget by 100,000 euros in the last two years without doing more things…
Do your partners know that you may not be able to do Class 1 in 2025?
We clearly say that today, it is not possible but that this new status would make us move up a level. We see it with our recruitment, we interest other riders, and we also see it in the relationship with partners. We are obliged to act as if… We are in the money time.
Are you confident for 2025?
We are optimistic. We hope that everything happens in a consensus, I would not like there to be a forced passage compared to the League. I hope that it will come naturally. We want to keep the role that we have in N1, train young people and organize races. It is up to us to do a good job. As I said, we want to stabilize what we do, free up space in N1. We must do things well and not take ourselves for what we are not. We organize 24 races per year, our volunteers are present at the races in the region. They want to see us in a Class 1, the riders want to be there… We can take advantage of a gateway to get out of the situation in which French amateur cycling finds itself. It bothers me to see clubs stop. In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, we have lost three in two years in N1. So it is a very good measure that is being proposed to us. We went to see partners. Being present on more Class 2 doesn’t change much but being at the start of the Tour de l’Ain would change everything for a club like ours.
