The team sprint trio took silver behind the Netherlands, again top in an event they have dominated since 2018. The pursuit quartet advanced to the final, scheduled for Thursday, against the favorites Italy and their Filippo Ganna locomotive.
"
We are happy with what we did, we approached the Dutch, we even put pressure on them in the first round, a tenth of a second,
" explained Sébastien Vigier, the relay of the group who is also the most experienced for his fifth Worlds.
"
In the final, they raised their level again, not us, but we are on the right track,
" added the Francilien.
"
We were highly motivated for the final, we gave ourselves 110% but they
(the Netherlands, note)
were even faster
".
On a track that is not known for its speed, the French trio approached their time for the Tokyo Olympics (42''550 against 42''294) which had earned them the bronze medal in Japan but far from the two finalists , the Netherlands and Great Britain.
"
If our base time is 42''5, there is something to build for the future
", rejoiced Vigier (24 years old) on the same line as his two younger brothers, starter Florian Grengbo (21 years old). ) and finisher Rayan Helal (22).
The pursuers in the final
"
We are a young team, which has a lot to learn, we embody a new generation
", added Grengbo, who notes "
a small lack of transmission
" in the French school of sprinting covered with medals for a quarter of a century .
"
It's a great story, we weren't so close six months ago,
" said the young rider from Bourg-en-Bresse, a beginner in the Worlds.
“
This is also what makes us strong.
"
"
Tokyo has been there,
" confirmed Vigier about this team, which is reviving the French tradition under the direction of Herman Terryn, their coach from the national pole of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
In the final, the Dutch trio Olympic champion and world title holder (Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland) won by the margin of 57 hundredths of a second.
“
We have to work,
” commented Helal.
“
We are no longer light years away like in the last Olympiad.
It's good to see that we are all making progress.
We hope that next year it will be for us.
"
The other French team in the running, the pursuit, broke the French record set at the 2020 Worlds in Berlin by almost two seconds.
He thus reached the final, the best performance of the “
Blues
” in this event in the 21st century.
Valentin Tabellion, Thomas Denis, Benjamin Thomas and Thomas Boudat, already credited with second fastest time in qualifying behind Italy, completed the 4 kilometers standing start in 3'47 '' 816. A little over a second behind the quartet Italian Olympic title holder (3'46''760).
In this event, the last French medals at the Worlds date from 2003 and 2000 (bronze), as well as 1999 (silver).
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