Thomas Peyroton-Dartet’s demonstration of winning the gold medal in the road cycling time trial

The Frenchman, who is taking part in his first Paralympic Games, brings home a 46th medal for France, the 14th in gold.

The medal haul continues for the French in road cycling and the Paralympic time trial. After Heïdi Gaugain, Alexandre Léauté, Florian Jouanny, Elie de Carvalho, Dorian Foulon, Kevin Le Cunff and Gatien Le Rousseau earlier in the day, Thomas Peyroton-Dartet joins the list of medallists (category C3). The 29-year-old rider set a magnificent time, allowing him to win the gold medal. For his first Paralympic Games, he covered the 28.3-kilometre course in Clichy-sous-Bois in 38’28”80, well ahead of his first opponent, the Spaniard Eduardo Santos Asensio (+43”91).

For his first international title, Thomas Peyroton-Dartet struck hard, taking the lead from the intermediate time trial of the halfway point, never to let go again. “I can hardly believe it, I set the time I needed, on my home turf. A few years ago, I lived nearby and I used to come and ride here. It’s a course I knew by heart. The emulation of this French team allowed me to push through to the end.”he reacted after the race.

This gold medal rewards the resilience of Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, who came close to the professional world of cycling but has been affected by cerebellar ataxia, a neurological disease, since 2017. “These are my first Paralympic Games, I was already a high-level athlete in the past, but a serious accident in Tahiti during a competition brought me to paracycling. It was difficult at first to accept the disability, which is not visible. It is not easy to differentiate for the general public, but I want to say that we all train very hard and give our all.”he stressed.