Valère Thiébaud and track Cycling are over. The Vaudruzian athlete retired from sports on Monday. The announcement was made via a press release from Swiss Cycling. At 25, Valère Thiébaud was one of the spearheads of the quartet of track team pursuits. During his young career, he notably participated in the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021 and is the hour record holder. The Neuchâtel resident also wanted to get his ticket to the Los Angeles Olympics. But then, why pull the plug at the start of the qualifying phases? “Swiss Olympic has decided not to issue me Talent Cards. Without it, I cannot apply for sports assistance and this support contributed to two thirds of my income. Financially, I therefore decided to end my career,” grimaces Valère Thiébaud.
A difficult decision
After taking a long break in order to recover all the efforts made, the 25-year-old from Vaudruz wanted to quickly decide on the direction he wanted to take his career. Despite unsuccessful discussions with Swiss Olympic, he had to resolve to turn the page on track cycling. “It’s a very difficult decision. I’ve been devoting myself to sport since I was 12, so more than half of my life. I eat by bike, I sleep and I live by bike,” says Valère Thiébaud with emotion.
Retraining in health
Valère Thiébaud will now pursue training in the world of health. However, he is not going to stop playing sport and even plans to diversify his horizons. “I skied for the first time in 10 years this week. I intend to take up running and why not take part in the BCN Tour? », Motivates the Vaudruzian. /dpi
Swiss
