It was on October 26 on the Grenoble track that Marion Borras' 2024 season ended. “I'm happy to finish here, in front of my family, my club, UC Pontcharra, and lots of people who support me through messages and whom I don't often have the opportunity to see during the season. It’s a moment of exchange, sharing and conviviality,” does she like with DirectVelo.
During these 3 Days of Grenoble, the stakes were completely different from last August in Paris. The Olympic Games, Marion Borras of course always has them in mind. “There are a lot of things to say about the Olympics, both positive and negative. We mainly note the negative because there was no medal but there were also positives, which we will see more easily with time”she says.
On the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, the Iséroise finished 5th in the team pursuit and in the American. Despite a long and intense preparation, she was not able to start the competitions at 100%, the fault of illness. “That's the horrible thing about preparing for a race for four years. Everything has to come together to make it work on the big day. For my part, that was not the case. We got the results accordingly. It was very hard to digest and still is…”.
“A BEAUTIFUL MEDAL”
Despite the disappointment, Marion Borras wanted to push her season well after the Olympics. A month and a half later, she was at the start of the European Road Championship. “It gave me a great goal to go back and get on my bike. In addition, it went well, there was great team cohesion and we were not far from the medal”she recalls while in the sprint, her colleague from the American Olympian Clara Copponi took 4th place.
The 26-year-old athlete then insisted on participating in the World Track Championships, held in mid-October in Ballerup, Denmark. “I didn’t want to end with the disappointment of the Games”. But the preparation was not easy. “I started my final clinical course at the end of September. So I trained in the evening after work. It was a lot for ten days but I held on”. She was rewarded on the Danish velodrome.
After the scratch where she tried things before finishing 13th, she quickly returned to the American race, this time alongside Victoire Berteau. “We were the two survivors of the French team, we wanted to have fun, to do things well and to have fun even if we knew it was going to be difficult because everyone was there. We set off with nothing but positives in mind”. The two tricolors did not respect the planned plan and preferred to run by feeling. “It was a struggle until the end, we achieved a crazy average given the conditions. We didn't give up until the end and that's a great medal.”
“A GREAT WAY TO RELAUNCH”
This silver charm gives “a little balm to the heart” to Marion Borras. “It allows us to say that all the work done during the year was not for nothing as we might have thought after the Games. We can sleep soundly this winter, continue to take stock of everything that has happened to draw the consequences before moving on to something else”. For her, it will be with a new team in 2025.
After two years at St-Michel-Mavic-Auber 93, she chose to change scenery. “I didn't particularly plan to leave Auber. I was contacted by a few teams, with more or less interesting projects. I really liked what Cofidis offered me. We have a great common goal.”
Next season, it will focus on the road. “I might do a bit of track because I love it, it’s what makes me tick. But I am going to reduce it greatly compared to the last two years to make room for a road season. There are great things to do, it’s a great way to get back into a new season after this year.”
“LET ME BE CARRIED”
On the road, his desires will be numerous. The 5th of Paris-Roubaix 2023 is thinking in particular of the Classics. “They suit me quite a bit. There are plenty of them that I have never played before. Why not discover them as a teammate or have my chance in the sprint if the team allows me or start a teammate”. She is also thinking about stage races, especially those with a time trial. “It could be very interesting in view of the French Championship. I have never done a Grand Tour. There are lots of things to explore, that’s what’s nice about this project.”
As her objective today, she simply has the French Chronological Championship where she finished 3rd last June in Saint-Martin-de-Landelles. “I won't really have any expectations for this next season, I just want to let myself be carried away by the Cof' project and see what it gives. I'm going to discover lots of beautiful things, and I know that I'm going to be well supported. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be a great season.”
Marion Borras has 2025 in mind, and a bit of the Los Angeles Olympic Games. “We necessarily project ourselves as we did not get a medal in Paris. I tick 2028 but I don't know if I will be mentally and physically able to go to the end of these four years because it's still a long time”. But here too, she intends to let herself be carried away. “During these two years with Cofidis, I want to have fun and do things that I love. And for the next two years, we will see where the desire and motivation will be.”
