Léo Bergere may be the reigning world champion and in fine form this season, but he knows as well as anyone just what a tough task it is to make the French team for a home Olympics in Paris next year.
He heads into the test event buoyed by that thrilling finish at WTCS Sunderland when he was just pipped on the line after a sprint finish with teammate Pierre Le Corre.
That pair are vying with the likes of Vincent Luis and Dorian Coninx for what’s almost certain to be three spots – and the French selection process places great emphasis on what happens at the test event on Friday (August 18).
Olympics comes first
So it’s no wonder that Bergere says that the Olympics is his clear focus and ahead of defending his world title, telling us: “Paris is more important this year.
“After winning the title last year, I changed a little bit my mindset about the importance of the Olympics rather than the world title. I’m trying to improve different things as well as being consistent each year.”
And he took great confidence from that performance in Sunderland, where he also had more than half an eye on Paris.
Looking back on the race which saw him drive the pace on the bike, he said: “I’m happy with how it went. I did most of the job on the bike because I didn’t want to make it easy for myself.
“The goal was to work towards Paris and, yeah, that’s what I did. But when I came at the end of the bike section, I was smashed.
“But it was a good battle to the line,” he added in reference to the head-to-head with Le Corre, the man he’d been training with at altitude camp in Font Romeu in the weeks before.
“I think maybe Hayden [Wilde, who came third] was maybe a bit tired from the previous two races whereas myself and Pierre had been on that training block – but I’m confident for him that he will be top shape in Paris.
“It feels good because I just changed coach a few weeks ago, so for the confidence of both of us, it’s great. And leading into the Paris test event, the preparation is going well and we took some good information too.”
‘We should be alright’
Another podium place in Paris will all but guarantee a return there in 2024 but he’s fully aware that will be no straightforward task: “Yeah, it’s true. Now we are battling for those three spots but it’s fair competition. I think we all understand that this situation helps us grow.
“It’s a good sign that the French team is in good shape but at the same time there were guys missing [in Sunderland] like Alex Yee and Matt Hauser.
“But everyone will be in Paris and in top shape. So it’s good to have a bit of confidence but let’s keep working in the same way and we should be alright.”
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