There is the window. With great rewards on display: 9 medals at the Paris Olympic Games, special mentions in BMX monopolizing the podium, and in the road event in which Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte hung silver and bronze around their necks. And then there is the back room, that of the amateur clubs, and the other side of the medals as it is time to vote for the president of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) this Saturday, December 14, it is not truly a swaggering Marseillaise who rises from the ground up.
Many clubs are in despair and are struggling to keep the road activity going. Which is slipping more and more on the nagging question of security. “We do about four outings a week, and not a single one goes off without incident anymore.deplores Jean-Michel Pourteau, president of Balma Olympique Cyclisme, 96 members in the Toulouse suburbs. The cars brush past us, overtake us in very dangerous conditions. We no longer use certain routes. And on small roads, which were little used in the past, we are faced with new traffic because of traffic assistance applications, with people who drive quickly to save time on these side roads. »
Security, the main pitfall
The manager is particularly sensitive on the subject, his club having been in mourning five years ago during an accident with a tractor (one dead and 5 injured). “We no longer take young people under 16 because we are no longer able to supervise them without risk, and I understand the parents who today hesitate to put the kids in the saddle”continues Jean-Michel Pourteau. As a result, his club has an average age of 50 years.
Safety isn’t the only pothole under the wheels of road cycling. “The cost of equipment is becoming prohibitive, increasing by around 25% in recent yearsobserves Jean-Pierre Cann, president of Essor Breton, a stage race born in 1958. The pool is shrinking, and it is increasingly difficult to form teams, even at the highest amateur level. Fewer runners also mean fewer organized races, because we cannot be satisfied with a peloton of around twenty starters. »
Same cracked story with Alain Baniel, creator of the only race in central Brittany, the Kreiz Breizh which will celebrate its 29the edition next year. “ We’re not going into the wall, we’re right in itthe organizer is alarmed. Financing our races becomes a challenge. Me, I have to collect €330,000. Local communities? We know their budgetary constraints. Partners? They are increasingly in demand. And the Federation doesn’t help us much. And I’m not talking about volunteering which is running out! If we disappear, French cycling no longer exists! »
Candidate for the federal presidency for the first time, Teodoro Bartuccio, general director of Paris Cycliste Olympique, went on a campaign across France and claims to have met “incredible distress. There are fewer and fewer training clubs, those that remain only exist thanks to mountain biking or BMX activities. We have lost 400 clubs in six years. Cycling has not reinvented itself. All clubs ask for listening, which is currently non-existent at the FFC, and support which is lacking”.
Better listen to and support clubs
A criticism that Michel Callot, at the helm of the FFC since 2017 and seeking a third mandate, rejects outright: “I contest the “dramatic crisis” aspect that some people talk about. On the licenses distributed for the moment, we are up 12% compared to last year, 10.62% to be exact concerning the road. I upgraded this house, modernizing our old federal model. »
The manager recognizes, however, that two big black spots remain, on security and club financing. “On the first point, there is unfortunately no magic wand, but we hope in particular to succeed in integrating a module on cycling into the driving licenseunderlines Michel Callot. For the financing of our clubs, I intend to highlight to communities the fact that our clubs cost nothing in structure and operation, unlike most sports. We will also continue to produce tools to help clubs expand their resources, on health cycling, leisure, etc. »
President of the My bike is a life association, at the forefront of safety issues, Teodoro Bartuccio calls for his part on this subject to “activate more actively” and to demand “a real Grenelle of security”. As for financing, he recommends “to raise awareness among local authorities about mobility rather than sports, to create a specific service for the FFC to support clubs, and to better sell the image of cycling, particularly on social networks”. What to attract clubs? In 2017, Michel Callot, the only candidate in the running, obtained 97% of the votes, and 93% in 2021 against former champion Cyrille Guimard.
