So he took the plunge. Last week, at the World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland, Mattis Lebeau competed in his first Para competition, in the C4 category. A carefully considered decision for a rider who performs among the able-bodied, under the Charvieu-Chavagneux IC jersey, and who even once hoped to turn pro with Team Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur. He is now embarked on a project lasting several years, with his sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. And the future looks bright since for his baptism of fire, he has already won two medals, including the world title. during the timed event. DirectVelo exchanged with the Riviera in Zurich, in the mixed zone, after the French’s second hat-trick during the road race. Interview.
DirectVelo: Here you are, World Champion… of para-cycling!
Mattis Lebeau: I was born with muscular atrophy, club foot. It is an invisible handicap today even though, at birth, my feet were completely twisted and I had an operation when I was fifteen months old. Since then, I have always run in Elites with the able-bodied and it works pretty well. So I had a hard time getting through it. It wasn’t easy to say that I have a disability and that I am eligible for para races. It took me three years of reflection, since Tokyo 2021. A friend near home, who runs with us, told me that I needed to find out. He had mentioned the situation of Kévin (Le Cunff), similar to mine. And at that time, I was not at all aware that I might be eligible. I had time to mature the project.
“SWITCHER WITH CHARVIEU”
Until recently, you were considering a move to the pros down the road…
I could still hope for it this year, knowing that I’m having a good season in Elites. I always had it in the back of my mind, I hoped to move to the next level but at 25, it’s starting to get old for professional teams. So I fell back on that to try to make a living.
With a long-term projection, on Los Angeles 2028 for example?
Absolutely, I’m going to do both for the next few years: continue my Elite career and at the same time para. I plan to do a few Para World Cup rounds and switch with Charvieu for the rest of the 2025 season.
Do you feel at home among the paratroopers?
Once again, I had a hard time getting through this. There are runners who are missing a leg and they are in the same category as me. It’s weird, it’s not easy. But I have a disability. This category is made for that so I say to myself that yes, I am in my place. I’m not an imposter. A new life begins.
“MY ONLY REFERENCE WAS KÉVIN”
How were you welcomed into the world of para-cycling?
I didn’t get too much feedback but the first feeling was good. The guys from the French team introduced me to other nations. It went well. I arrived in my first race, directly in the World Championship, and I won the time straight away. I imagine that for some people it must be weird. Sportingly speaking, I didn’t really know what was going to happen, where I was going to place myself. My only reference point was Kevin and what he did in para, in the same category. He was an Olympic medalist this summer so I suspected that I wasn’t going to be ridiculous but I was waiting to see on the road regardless. Finally, I won the time trial and I won a new medal on the road, it’s perfect (the Blues achieved the hat-trick twice with Mattis Lebeau, Kévin Le Cunff and Gatien Le Rousseau, who was titled during the road event where the two road racers gave him victory, Editor’s note).
Especially since everything was decided almost at the last moment…
The validation was done a few days before the time, with the doctor. I had made a medical file in advance, in August, which I sent to the UCI. My presence was planned. It just remained to know which category I was going to be in, C5 or C4, and ultimately it was C4. As I have both disabled feet, that puts me in that category. It has been confirmed that I have a loss of power in both legs, but I don’t know by how much. It’s complicated to measure, for me first. But that’s how it is. Here I am in this world and I intend to stay there for a while.
