At 35, François Pervis will most certainly be entitled to his last lap in Tokyo. This is at least the objective of the one that the Japanese have called SuperSonic since they elevated him to the rank of stars of the keirin on his first visit in 2010.
Four years after Rio (Brazil) and its bronze medal in team speed, the pistard will not appear in the French selection for the Olympic Games. The six-time world champion will therefore go through the… Paralympic Games.
On the initiative of the French Handisport Federation (FFH) and the French Cycling Federation (FFC), the Mayennais, installed for almost ten years near the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, will line up in tandem with Raphaël Beaugillet, 30 years old. Pervis becomes the official “pilot” of the visually impaired para-cyclist and multiple champion of France on road and on track. "I will be his eyes, he will be my legs", summarizes the man who waited 12 years before winning the world gold.
Beaugillet: "I am sure that the automated systems will arrive very quickly"
Two weeks ago, in the middle of the Wednesday noon slot open to subscribers to the national velodrome, the duo straddled a tandem for the first time. We were there. "Go show me how we ride, you're the boss!" Launched Pervis to his new playmate. "We took no risks and I am sure that the automatic mechanisms will arrive very quickly," summarized Beaugillet, who lost his sight at 19 years of age following a degenerative disease.
At the time, the one whose vision is now reduced to 1/10 per eye played amateur football and began a professional career in the building industry. "In six months, it was as if I had found myself living in the fog and, to put it simply and without pun intended, I got on my bike to see something else," sums up the runner of Blois (Loir-et-Cher).
Associated with Albin Geneix (Créteil), Beaugillet had finished fourth in the last Worlds in 1'02 "165. He will skip the season on road to focus on achieving the minimum on the kilometer (1'01" 4 ), in order to be one of the six para-cyclists who will defend the tricolor chances in Japan.
The luxury reinforcement of François Pervis must logically lead him towards his Olympic dream. Since December 2013, the six-time world champion has been the world record holder for the specialty in 56''303, a time achieved at 1885 meters altitude in Aguascalientes (Mexico). "His track record is impressive, but I'm going to have to ignore all of that," explains Raphaël Beaugillet. By the month of April, we will train two to three times a week and we will have to find automatisms. We will also learn to live together around the clock. "
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Discarded from the France pole for a year, Pervis will therefore be able to end his career where (almost) it all started. "Without Japan, the François Pervis world champion would never have existed ...", concludes the man who has just resumed his Japanese lessons.
