If the overseas committees had not made the costly trip to mainland France, the speed tournaments of the Championship of France for the Future would have seemed skeletal. They represented more than a quarter of the Junior Men, a third of the Cadets and the team sprint and almost half of the Minimes-Cadettes entered in the sprint. The competitions took place under the watchful eye, and the objective, of the two coaches from the Pôle France Cyclisme Outre-mer: Corentin Davy and Gilles Suares, originally from Guadeloupe, both 29 years old. Nothing escaped their tablet which filmed the competitions. The center which moved from Hyères to Bourges in 2023 (read here) specialized in sprinting with Matthias Sylvanise, Antoine Laugier, Louis Fuhrmann, Léa Grondin but also Etienne Oliviero, the only metropolitan in the group. The goal of the pole is to prepare the accession of the best athletes to the Olympic Pole while overseas lacks equipment. Martinique only has one flat road ring while the Baie-Mahault velodrome in Guadeloupe has not been used for several years. Martinican Emmanuel Houcou, who will be a neo-pro at Arkéa-B&B Hôtels Conti in 2025, has also worked at the Overseas Pole. For DirectVelothe two coaches describe their mission.
DirectVelo: Overseas committees are very present in speed tournaments this year…
Gilles Suares: We know that overseas athletes have already contributed a lot to the French teams in all sports. The road races there are explosive and make them work their fast fibers but there are few tracks, they are all in the open air, not always in good condition to exploit these qualities in the velodromes. The committees arrive exceptionally in advance of the competition. Guadeloupe only came a day in advance and was only able to do one training session. Martinique came to Saint-Quentin for a few days but the three young people had almost never ridden on the track. In Martinique, it's a flat ring so when they arrive at a wooden velodrome with banked turns, they lack direction.
What are the stages of selection to enter the Overseas Pole?
GS: Athletes apply individually. Applications are open at the start of the year and they submit a file. They send school information, some data on classic tests, over 7 seconds, power peaks, lactate thresholds if they know them. We thus have a reading of their academic and sporting profile. We invite the selected profiles to a pre-selection in Bourges with slightly more precise tests.
Corentin Davy: There is also a cover letter to fill out. This is a general aspect. It’s a double, or even a triple project. Sports, academic but also quite simply a life project. There is an even more complex dimension because of family distance. This whole aspect must be taken into account.
“THE FIRST YEAR IS A YEAR OF ADAPTATION”
What is the age range for recruitment?
CD: In general, the youngest arrive at 15 years old. They arrive at the end of Cadet 1, at the start of the school year in September. We are also more focused on high school students, so 15-18 years old. But an athlete can stay one more year. Our other particularity is that we are committed to a project at least in the medium term with overseas athletes. We know very well that the first year is a year of adaptation. There are so many changes for them that we can't say it's not working after a year. These are projects lasting at least three to four years with the athletes.
How is uprooting and the psychological aspect taken into account?
GS: This is all the more why we take the time to choose the profiles carefully. The young people who come to the center have a specific sporting project, they know why they are there. Some young people are not yet mature; long-term family estrangement could have a big impact on their development. We take the time to conduct interviews and read cover letters carefully to find out if they are ready. When they are a little less good, we have a sports psychologist and a medical team at CREPS in Bourges. We also sometimes have the support of the Regional Performance Center to hold collective meetings and provide tools. It's another tool given to athletes so they can know “what should I do when I'm not well and what can help me to be better“We have families on the phone, sometimes by video, which allows us to stay in touch. There are also relay families who can help them and some have family in mainland France.
“DEVELOP THE SMALL DETAILS OF PERFORMANCE FACTORS”
What is your role in relation to the French Olympic team?
GS: Our function is training and preparation for performance. We try to develop the small details of performance factors, being autonomous, knowing how to warm up, knowing how to track training on a platform
CD: An athlete is not just the physical or tactical aspect. It's much broader. To select the runners, we don't just base ourselves on the times. A runner can already have a very developed tactical sense which will give him a psychological advantage but without having yet worked physically. The goal is for the athlete to have plenty of tools in their box. So that when he gets to the high level, he can draw on it and have solid foundations. That’s really our role.
In a sport like speed, where there is no big structure like on the road, is it more important to be independent?
CD: Just as much, I would say.
GS: Given that sprinting often has fewer resources and a much less extensive schedule, you have to know how to mobilize throughout the year despite the low number of competitions. When there is a competition in six months, staying focused and serious is not easy. The seriousness of a sprinter is essential but it must be just as important for an endurance runner.
“NO SPRINT CULTURE”
The FFC is working on feminization, do you find motivated girls for the pole?
CD: At present, there is only one girl (Léa Grondin, from Réunion) but it all depends on the profiles. If other girls have the profile to join, they will come. Otherwise, it won't be the case. The goal is to support athletes who deserve support and who are determined to receive it and who meet the selection criteria.
GS: Until now, the percentage of postulates is higher among boys than among girls, as in the population of graduates.
Have you observed runners in Loudéac who had not applied and who show an interesting profile?
CD: The goal is to see the athletes but also and above all to create links with overseas committees. Gilles has links with the Guadeloupe Islands committee but most of them, we have never seen them in real life, even if of course we communicated by email, by video, but it's not the same. We can create a special bond. The goal is to work hand in hand, despite the distance. Obviously we have seen athletes with interesting profiles but as we explained, that requires reflection. The advantage is that it is November and that gives time to think about it for the next school year in September 2025.
GS. : We do live video analyzes to be able to retransmit to all the committees what we have seen. They know what the expectations are for applying well to the center. They have until next September to work on these points. We are here to create links and give meaning to this Overseas Center which wants to help the committees develop the track. Unfortunately, this is not what is advocated in the overseas departments.
CD: And even more in the sprint which does not fit into the culture of the overseas departments, New Caledonia is a little apart, with their past. But among others, it's true that there is no sprint culture.
