Thursday evening, at the headquarters of CIC Westtook place on the end of season evening of CIC U Nantes Atlantiqueone of the seven French continental teams. Less efficient than during the 2023 season (85th in the UCI ranking with 365 points / 1 victory compared to 57th with 712 points / 5 victories last year), the Nantes team nevertheless experienced some satisfaction, with in particular this magnificent double achieved on THE Plouay Elite Grand Prix thanks to its two strong men of the year: Pierre-Henry Basset et Clement Braz Afonso. To return to the third professional season of CIC U Nantes Atlantique – which also has a magnificent academy and will this winter become the only approved training center in France – Cyclism’Actu went to meetAnthony Ravardits general manager. And if he of course talked about his team and his riders, the former sprinter had things to say on many other subjects linked to cycling, including some that are in the news.
Video – Anthony Ravard at the microphone of Cyclism’Actu!
“Despite everything, we were able to stay the course and bounce back”
How do you judge the 2024 CIC U Nantes Atlantique season?
We started the year very badly with the fall of Yaël Joalland (heavily fell on the Marseille Cycling Grand Prix La Marseillaiseeditor’s note), which had a moral impact on certain runners. We had a hard time recovering from that, and on top of that, we had a lot of different injuries and illnesses, including three cases of mononucleosis. So it wasn’t easy for us, and there were therefore a little less results.
The group was young (22 and a half years old on average at the start of the season, editor’s note), so when there are difficulties, it is more difficult to master, but we were able to stay the course and bounce back despite everything. since we finished the year well. There were revelations like Clément Braz Afonso and Pierre-Henry Basset, who did the double at the GP de Plouay Élite and will respectively join Groupama-FDJ and normally Astana Qazaqstan according to the rumors I have for the latter. Our vocation is to train future champions, so this is satisfying.
“We have quite a few projects, but we now need partners who adhere to them”
The CIC U Nantes Atlantique project is now entirely focused on young people or are you still thinking about signing more experienced riders, as you did in 2022 and 2023 with Emmanuel Morin or Pierre Barbier?
We want to have a mix between young people and senior riders, the latter being there to share their experience and run the house. We are a development team with a calendar of ProSeries races, class 1 and class 2, so we have to hold the season, which means we are obliged to have senior riders. The idea is to find more ways to have a denser and more diverse workforce.
At the start of the season, you told us about this desire to move up to ProTeam, and why not from 2025. What about it?
You have to have projects, but you also have to give yourself time for projects, which means structuring and going step by step. We saw that it wasn’t possible this year, so we didn’t go there. We can clearly see today that cycling is in difficulty, among amateurs but also in certain professional organizations, so we are controlling our budget. The idea is to move forward, but step by step. We also have women’s cycling which attracts us. So we have quite a few projects, but we now need the partners who adhere to them. As for Conti and a move to ProTeam, we will see that in two, three or four years depending on the landscape of French cycling. There will need to be a sporting interest, but also an interest for the partners in terms of visibility.
“The federal Conti? I am against…”
The federal Conti wanted by the French Cycling Federation (FFC), is this something that should upset you or not?
Yes, definitely. I think the current pyramid, given the way it is constructed, makes perfect sense. At CIC U Nantes Atlantique, we take runners from the DN1, and they therefore have every vocation to exist. We must therefore defend their interests, which I did by video with Michel Callot (the president of the FFCeditor’s note). In my opinion, there should be a DN1 classification which would allow these teams to be rewarded because we see that it is more and more difficult for them, with the appearance of WorldTeam reserves, to go to class 2 races. The three or first five in this ranking, they would have to be automatically taken into the class 2 races for which they apply.
Afterwards, I am also against the federal Conti project for the simple reason that there cannot be double standards. As Conti, we pay employer and social charges, so if we have teams in front of us and on the same races who do not have to pay this, our partners will wonder why we asked for so much budget for this race while the others have less budget. In France, it is the National Cycling League which manages the 3rd division teams (Conti level) and professionalism, and it must stay like that.
Amateur teams disappearing, Yvon Caër who appears very alarmist in a recent interview… What do you think of the current situation in French cycling?
We can clearly see that cycling is going badly. There are fewer and fewer licensees, clubs are disappearing, the sport is falling into second place at the community level, and especially at the department level, which have other constraints and could help less in the organization of cycling competitions. .with all this, it is clear that we are in danger. Solutions? I think there are some around Knowing How to Ride a Bike and Getting Back in the Saddle.
Me, at our level and if we grow up, we move to ProTeam and we have a bus, my idea would be to be able to go to the clubs during licenses, arrive with the bus, do activities… which could make it possible to have a few additional licensees. These are small ideas on our scale and on our territory. We have to find ideas and put things in place to continue to develop our sport. Above all, I am passionate about and I love my sport, so I sometimes cannot sleep at night over subjects like that.
A phenomenon which is also worrying for cycling and which is clearly not good publicity for cycling, and particularly among parents, is the increase in competition accidents observed for several months…
There are indeed more and more serious or fatal falls, but fortunately, in competition, this remains rare. What scares me the most is training. We must ask ourselves how we can ensure that young people can train safely. Is it on closed circuits? Or cycle paths, but which are unfortunately not always maintained? We have to put things in place because there are more and more vehicles, and that’s why there are more and more accidents.
“Like a good father…”
Your recruitment for 2025 does not seem to be complete. What can you tell us about the announcements that will be made later?
Ten riders are under contract for next season and an eleventh will soon be released. Afterwards, we are currently in renegotiation with partners and we will see what level we will be at in terms of budget. Like a good father, I am not going to spend until I know how much we have to spend, so it is the budget which will determine whether there will be twelve, thirteen or fourteen riders in the 2025 squad. What is also important is to structure around the runners. It’s good to have it, but you also have to have staff and technical resources, and we also seek to evolve in terms of performance.
