Loris Rouiller made a winning return to the Coupe de France. While he did not participate last year, the Swiss won several rounds in the winter of 2021-2022, before finishing 2nd overall the following season. This Saturday, he therefore triumphed in Nommay for the first round (see ranking). After passing through large structures in recent seasons, he has now joined a German team, Heizomat Radteam, at the end of a summer where he left mountain biking aside. A new runner presented himself at the microphone of DirectVeloat the dawn of this season in the undergrowth which is starting perfectly.
DirectVelo: It’s a winning return for you!
Loris Rouiller: The Coupe de France is always a nice competition where there is a level, but it’s quite early in the season at the moment, it’s not my objectives, I’m trying to find rhythm. It’s ideal here with fast routes, we can find that in Belgium. I’m super happy with my start to the season, I’m on the podium every time, we have to do it.
How was your race?
Management was tough today. I didn’t know the level of some so I was wary. For me it went too quickly, I wasn’t great, I had to recover and take a breather. I quickly made the effort to dig in, get an edge, and manage. I was still pumped because it’s very smooth. I prefer when there are more technical parts.
“MAYBE IT WAS GOOD TO SEE SOMETHING ELSE”
In what conditions are you starting your season?
I had a totally different summer this year. I changed my dynamic a lot, we completely changed our vision with my trainer, I did a full season on the road with around thirty gravel races instead of mountain biking. I ran a lot for myself to have more strength and work differently. It’s working well, but it’s only the start of the season. I can only be happy but the objectives are later on the World Cup, the Swiss Championship and the World Cup.
More generally, where are you in your career?
I’ve changed the dynamic a little, I come to this team because I’m quite square and organized, they are too, it’s German (smile). On this side, I agree 100%. I find that I have a great balance in this team. I also ran with Elite Fondations on the road, very organized and a great atmosphere. It suits me better than these big teams. It was wonderful to be at Alpecin, but it’s totally different. I’m not criticizing, if I have such an opportunity I might accept it, but it might have done me good to see something else. Now we’ll see tomorrow, but my weekend is already successful. I will go for training, I will not go to Europe. I take the time.
