Steven Henry followed the French Elite Track Championship in Loudéac with a keen eye. He also found the protagonists of the French Championship of the Future which was held on All Saints' Day, in the same places, two months before their passage in the Espoirs category. The national coach is also counting on these young shoots to renew and expand the group on which he will rely in this post-Olympic year which allows all reconstructions.
DirectVelo: Do you have a precise idea of this year’s program?
Steven Henry: It could still change, we don't yet have all the information from the UCI, particularly the two missing dates for the World Cup, even if we won't do all three rounds. We'll do one and maybe a second if it's not too far away. We are in a year of transition with a lot of renewals. The selection for the European Championship will be very young and renewed. I want to integrate the graduates of Juniors, the U23s into the collective, whereas before we had the Olympics separately. This year, we will have the Juniors who remain a separate category but the U23-Elites will only form one group to start with a larger collective. In addition to the World Cup, there will be the European Championship in February, the European Youth Championship in July and the World Cup at the end of the year.
“WE WILL RESTORE THE IMPORTANCE OF PLATOON EVENTS”
Will there be so many internships?
We are going to give back importance to peloton events in the preparation. We did a lot of team pursuit-oriented courses, there will always be a little of that but there will also be simulated peloton races. We will also try to go to the Grands Prix even if there aren't many either. In 2025 and 2026, we want to redevelop a collective and integrate the youngest. A Championship remains important because there are titles and jerseys but I know very well that the team which will go to Europe in a month will not play the leading roles given the youth of the collective.
Will there be a pursuit team in Zolder?
Yes, there will be a team pursuit, and also at the only World Cup that we know of, in Türkiye. There is also the regulatory obligation to participate in the team pursuit in Europe if we want to do it at the World Championship in Chile. But we almost leave with a team of Juniors.
Should you always practice the team pursuit technique during training?
You have to maintain a technique and as they are new runners, I also have to get to know them in order to position them well to give them a place and associate them well. It’s all this work that’s interesting. But for the team pursuit, we will take stock in two years to know how we plan for Los Angeles with this event.
“A LITTLE LONGER INTERNSHIPS”
Is it easier to tell sports groups that we work on races in a peloton?
No, it's a bit the same whether it's the pursuit or the peloton races. What we can imagine for an athlete like Benjamin (Thomas) is to ask him to come for slightly shorter training sessions or for certain athletes to arrive at the last moment as Morkov or Kluge were able to do. It can reduce the time on track for target athletes like Benjamin, Oscar (Nilsson-Julien) with small blocks of 4-5 days instead of ten days.
What does the presence of their runner in the French track team bring to sports groups?
I have been convinced for the 11 years I have been here that it is very complementary. Whether it's the lactic efforts, the specific efforts that we can make on the track, we have difficulty reproducing them on the road. Bryan Coquard is present at this French Championship and I think that it will do him the greatest good for the Tour Down Under. The runner is already convinced of this, that’s already a good point. There is necessarily complementarity in their daily physical work. So it’s definitely positive.
Are you afraid that some riders will do less track this year because of a team change on the road?
If it is done in good intelligence, if it remains within an overall logic of development, it is not a problem. If we talk about Oscar, it's an important year for him, he's moving to the pros (at Conti Groupama-FDJ). He will have a more adapted track program, shorter with a track theme, with very small reminders but which fit into his daily training. We are lucky that this year 2025 is transitional for them and that it gives a chance to riders present at the French Championship like Camille Charret, Ellande Larronde, Lucas Menanteau, Erwan Besnier who is having a great Championship, which we will see under the French team jersey.
Speaking of competition, would you like the creation of a small circuit that expands in France?
This was already my wish eleven years ago when I arrived in the French team. The circuit needs to develop. There is the summer circuit with the Coupe de France for young people. But in winter, indoor velodromes can be used for that. I know that Erwan (Besnier) came to race in Bourges, here in Loudéac. The ideal would be to have international C2 events but these events can already do good in the winter preparation of truckers.
