The CSO Millau (Cycle Stade Olympique) is above all a Cycling school specializing in Enduro, DH and XC* mountain biking with a road section. A club supported by different profiles united by the same passion for cycling. Born in 1988 from the merger of two clubs, Vélo sport millavois and Cycle millavois, the club organizes its year around several major events with several dates to remember for 2025 and a slew of new features.
Sébastien Cauquil et Benoit Sanchez Matéo now serve as co-presidency of the club, Bruno Bouscaillou holds the position of treasurer and Sabrina Baldeyrou that of secretary. Alongside them, 14 members in a club, which employs two permanent employees: Victor David« Vito », et Philémon D'Andurain. Rudy Cabirou, Paul Gayral et Yohan Peyrottes regularly act as professional instructors to supervise courses and prepare for major events.
The club's objective for the years to come is to boost its activities through the organization of events, “ to guarantee a balanced cash flow and thus offer quality courses by calling on professionals, while remaining a club accessible to all, a priority », Explain the presidents. From the cycling school open all year round to major regional events, the CSO is consolidating its place as a major player in the world of local and regional cycling.
A cycling school open to as many people as possible
Cycling school students take lessons on Wednesdays and Saturdays and participate in courses every first week of the school holidays. The youngest are admitted as soon as they know how to pedal and some club members are over sixty.
The groups are mixed, with 140 licensees in total coming from Millau, but also from further afield. The club remains accessible and mixed, around ten girls are part of the ranks of the CSO, among them, licensed Marine Cabirou, the example for an entire generation of cyclists. This year, the cycling school opened an adapted sports section linked to the Charmettes, led by Philémon d'Andurain who provides the lessons, nine residents of the Millavois establishment benefit from this experience. New slots have also been opened for students from the Jeanne d'Arc establishment who wish to train with the club.
La Monkey Products DH (adultes) et La Giant DH Kids
After very positive feedback from spectators and drivers, the organizers of the DH decided to renew this event for the third consecutive year, with the ambition to develop and improve it. The regional race, scheduled for March 29 and 30, will bring together the best specialists in this premier discipline of mountain biking. “ In 2023, out of the 300 participants, we had one American and around ten high-level French runners, including the locals Dylan Levesque et Marine Cabirou. It is a key competition at the start of the season, the first on the national and international calendar, ideal for testing yourself, with a track at the level of a French Cup », Specify the organizers. Despite its amateur nature, the event took on a considerable scale.
Rudy Cabirouat the helm for two years, puts his expertise at the service of this competition, supported by various partnerships. The objective is clear: reach 500 registrants by 2025, with a dedicated village to reinforce attractiveness. Young riders from 8 years old can also take part in the “DH Kids”, organized on an adapted track on Saturday, alongside the adults’ reconnaissance on the regional black track. This event brings together many volunteers as well as new partnerships with Giant Orcel Millau and Monkey Products who will give their names to the adult and children's events in 2025.
Encouraged by the success of this meeting and supported by a dynamic collective, the members of the group are already considering the organization of a large-scale event, an idea already mentioned by the former president of the club, Frederic Deniswhich would bring together all local cycling-related events into one big meeting.
A partnership with Natural Games
For the first time in 2024, the CSO and the Natural Games offered the “MTB gravity week”, a hybrid race reserved for adults which will become the “Bike Park Contest” in 2025 while keeping the original format which mixes a DH with recognition, enduro on sight (without recognition) and a “chainless” pump trail, that is to say by removing the chain from the bike.
« There, you have to be good in all disciplines and be very efficient on the bumps and try to gain maximum speed on the descent. », specify the members of the club who say that “ the idea appealed to around a hundred participants who had to choose a single bike for all the events “. Children can enjoy a hybrid format offered at the bike park, a DH kids and a pump trail, with the chain of course! On Maladrerie Island, volunteers also provide an introduction to mountain biking.
-National recognition
For three years, the CSO has been on the podium of the “French Enduro Team Cup”. A ranking of clubs made with the points obtained thanks to the results of licensees in different races. In 2022, the CSO was third, in 2023, first and in 2024 second, a reward which shows that the club plays in the big leagues in the Coupe de France, as evidenced by the lost licensees who each made a place at their level , Marine Cabirou, Dylan Levesque, Quentin Baldeyrou, Axel Vernhet, Mélina Damestoy…
Results and an image which attract more and more licensees sometimes coming from far away, Montpellier, Rodez… to benefit from the expertise of the teachers and the local infrastructures that the club maintains all year round, in partnership with the City of Millau , the Millau Grands Causses and Larzac valley communities of communes. This is how the Bike Park was developed, “ a large investment of around €30,000 carried by Com'com Millau Grands Causses and the club which had to call on professionals like Paul Gayral et Rudy Cabirouwho worked on it for three years », Explains the office which shows its desire to make it evolve further. Today it has a DH track, three enduro tracks and a pump trail with free access, a local specificity.
A “randuro” project?
In October 2024, the club organized the final of the Challenge enduro tour on the Pouncho d'Agast, a regional competition. To date, the office is wondering about the 2025 format and is not closing the door to the organization of a “randuro”, a rolling outing, but without classification.
L'agenda du CSO
Friday March 7 in the evening, the carpentry room will host the CSO quine. The club is planning the bicycle flea market in partnership with Wish One, a large flea market reserved for cycling equipment and materials, the date of which will be announced in a few weeks.
The volunteers who are always welcome are with the club, the linchpins of this collective adventure, the CSO Millau asserts itself as a key player in local and regional cycling. With quality infrastructure and courses, ambitious events and national recognition, CSO continues to attract a varied audience, from beginners to seasoned competitors. Thanks to a dynamic team and certainly visionary projects, he is writing a beautiful page in the history of cycling in the land of the Grands Causses.
* VTT Enduro (Cross country + descente), DH (descente) et XC (cross-country)
