This Friday, Théo Thomas took his bearings in Dijon. Future rider of the SCO Dijon-Team Matériau-velo.com, the former member of VC Villefranche Beaujolais took the opportunity to put his wheels on the cyclo-cross organized by his future club. In the end, the result was not necessarily what he expected, with a Top 10 background (see ranking), the fault of a stormy start where he did not want to jostle with the most reckless of his opponents. Between the start of the cyclo-cross season, the fall which did not allow him to reach the upper echelon and the upcoming road season under his new colors, Théo Thomas made the rounds at the microphone of DirectVelo.
DirectVelo: How was your race in Dijon?
Théo Thomas: I don't like to come across as someone who complains, but at the start, Valentin Remondet and Quentin Navarro didn't play fair in wanting to push and knock down. I came out of my race, I did anything in the first lap. I stayed on a potato hunt, I was never on the wheels. At one point I saw that I was never going to return, I sat down and let it go. The circuit was beautiful but you had to be in front from the start and that was not my case.
How did you stay focused throughout the race, far in the back of your head?
I don't really like this situation, I need the competitors to hurt me. This was not the case there. It was mentally difficult to stay in it. It's frustrating, because I had the level to be in front, I think. I know that François Trarieux was already thinking to me that I was too nice at the start, then I had the feeling of being surly, but fair play. And it didn't pay off. Losing an opportunity like that… It's an investment, a cost. The results are mixed but I am happy to have run with my new club.
“NO WORRY, NO STRESS”
How are you approaching this winter?
I stopped the road season, I cut it. I was more or less aiming for the upper echelon but it didn't happen. So I wasn't planning on doing the cross season so early. I needed to get back into something mentally. It was double or nothing, either I was doing very well or it was like that. It's not great at the moment, but the goal is to be in very good shape in January to aim for the title of Champion of France.
So you have real ambitions in cyclo-cross!
Last year, I think the Championship reflected the level and I was able to fight up front. That's the goal, I set that for myself. If it goes through a Top 20 on a C2 three months before, there are no worries, no stress. It's just disappointing not to be able to fully express myself.
“AS IF WE WERE HANDS YOU A COOKIE THAT WE DIDN’T GIVE YOU”
The rest will be written with another club now…
With Villefranche we gave ourselves two years. We were close to making it happen at the pro level, so I needed a new project. I already had Dijon in my sights two years ago. I can't wait to be able to express myself with my teammates, it's important to start a new cycle. My goal is not necessarily to really be a professional. If I'm good on the road and I can be, I'll do it. But this season, I realized that I had the potential, and it didn't happen so I think I wasn't ready. For the moment I just want to win races and then we'll see.
How did you experience not moving on to the pros?
It's like someone handing you a cookie and not giving it to you. In the Ardennes I was fighting with the pros, at the start of the season I had the feeling of being very strong. I walked, I told myself that the guys around were pros so why not me. Not having materialized is frustrating because it means that it is possible, but it did not happen. I still can't tell myself that it will never happen, because we don't know.
