For them, it’s a real godsend. Even if everything doesn’t match what they were hoping for, with for example the impossibility of making a French Class 1 in 2025 due to the opposition to this project of the National Cycling League (read here), some amateur clubs have every intention of applying for Federal Continental status.
This is the case of VC Rouen 76, current leader of the Challenge DV Amateur and the Coupe de France N1. The Normandy club, which intends to continue to skim the Class 2 to allow its young riders to rub shoulders with the international level, declared last week its intention to the French Cycling Federation to apply for this new label. Sports director Jean-Philippe Yon takes stock with DirectVelo.
DirectVelo: Why is VC Rouen 76 a candidate for the Continental Federal label?
Jean-Philippe Yon: We are a candidate for several reasons. The first is sporting. We want to protect ourselves from access to Class 2 events. With the increase in the number of development Conti races, we suspect that at some point we will no longer have access to these races. That would be a sporting regression and we did not want that. It will also allow us to have a larger budget, with a 20% increase to operate properly. We will initially reduce the number of riders to have more resources to be structured and we will see how we evolve in the years to come. It will improve our working conditions and in the future, we will perhaps get closer to the budget of a French Conti team.
“THE FIRST TO JUMP”
So this status comes at just the right time for a club like VC Rouen 76?
To the extent that there is a sporting progression, not going there is going backwards. We were afraid of that. At a Liège Espoirs, this year we only had three French amateur teams knowing that Decathlon and Arkéa had not been selected… If they are taken next year, the amateur clubs will be the first to jump. We want to allow young runners to access great races.
Have you found the budget yet?
We are in full discussions, nothing is final. We have just declared our intention to create a Federal Conti. We are working to balance the budget, that is what concerns us at the moment.
“WE DON’T DREAM”
What will the squad look like?
We will go down from 18 to fourteen riders. We will keep ten of the current squad, and operate on one and a half fronts. Knowing that we will have more UCI events, there will be more time to prepare for the races and then more recovery time. The idea will always be to train young people. The very good ones have already left for Dévo. It is very complicated to attract 19-year-old riders. We still have a lot of requests. We want to find a balance in the team in relation to our qualities and our collective which is our strength. We want to make a mix of young people and very good level riders to exist on Class 2 and perhaps some Class 1 abroad.
The LNC is opposed to your presence on French Class 1s… Do you hope that this will change?
The League was very firm. It’s a categorical no. They really closed the door during a video conference. Today, we don’t sell a project with French Class 1s. We’re going to try to do some abroad and maybe at some point, the situation will be resolved in France. We are the only country where a Conti from the country cannot race, while foreign Conti can now do any Class 1 in France. Firstly, our mission is to move up to Conti Fédérale, have a good Class 2 calendar and have a few outings abroad. Four or five Class 1s outside France would be great. Let’s try to grow gradually and establish our current situation. We’re going to structure ourselves and then see if we can evolve. We’re not dreaming, for now.
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