Worlds on observe: Mathilde Gros wins the celebs

That is the primary world title for the 23-year-old Provençale, an awesome hope of sprinting because the juniors, and he or she gained it within the queen occasion: pace, through which no Frenchwoman had gained since Félicia Bellanger. 23 years in the past.

“It is a dream. It is unimaginable. I gave it my all, the general public was unimaginable. Listening to the ‘Mathilde, Mathilde’ all through the velodrome was magical,” she exulted.

And this triumph, she didn’t steal it, after single-handedly dominating the highly effective German group. First, within the semi-finals, by ejecting the double title holder, Emma Hinze, from the event, regardless of the lack of the primary spherical.

She did it once more for the gold by leaving Lea Sophie Friedrich no likelihood, this time in two straight matches to dwell the perfect day of her life on a motorbike.

Mathilde Gros, born within the Pas-de-Calais however who grew up within the Bouches-du-Rhône, found biking by likelihood eight years in the past when she was an apprentice high-level basketball participant and dreamed of baskets at three factors.

– “I take slaps” –

Gifted, she rapidly asserted herself as an awesome hope of French sport by chaining titles amongst juniors, some then predicting a future for her like Félicia Ballanger, the nice woman of French sprinting, triple Olympic champion.

This stress, she struggled to take it, chaining setbacks after a promising third place on the 2019 Worlds, typically for lack of self-confidence.

“I take slaps however someday I’ll have a click on”, she mentioned final yr after two successive poor performances on the Tokyo Video games (ninth in particular person pace and thirteenth in keirin) and on the World Championships in Roubaix (ninth within the keirin).

The press got here on Friday, on the velodrome the place she goals of profitable Olympic gold in lower than two years and the place she knew the way to do violence to herself to imagine extra in herself.

And play eye to eye with the champions she admires, as she confirmed by defying her opponents together with her gaze for lengthy seconds.

“Since his arrival in January, Grégory Baugé has been telling me that principally I do that to have enjoyable and I attempt to apply that”, she mentioned earlier than the Worlds, in regards to the former champion and new coach. nationwide.

– “Be part of him on this planet” –

A pleasure that the third French lady to win this title (additionally after Isabelle Nicoloso in 1985) shared with the quite a few and excited public of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome which ended on a good looking Marseillaise on the very finish of the night. .

He had been warmed up by the attractive silver medal gained earlier within the night by Melvin Landereau, who was then the second attraction for France after the bronze gained the day earlier than by the ladies’s pursuit group.

The European champion within the kilometer in August in Munich definitely couldn’t do something in opposition to the overwhelming Dutchman Jeffrey Hoogland who retained his title with a margin better than 1 sec 4/10.

However he additionally opened up, at 24, the urge for food for the 2024 Olympics.

“It is an awesome efficiency, he commented. From the beginning I knew it was going to be very troublesome to get him. The purpose is to shut this ‘hole’ with him by the Video games. We’re going again to work to attempt to be a part of him on this planet.”

A planet the place the Italian Filippo Ganna additionally lives, who gained a fifth world title within the particular person pursuit, a brand new world file at stake.

The perfect rider on the planet, nonetheless, arrived drained at these Worlds after breaking one other file final Saturday, the legendary one for the hour by protecting 56.792 kilometers on the observe in Granges, Switzerland.

However he was capable of finding the assets to beat his compatriot Jonathan Milan within the ultimate and enrich his showcase of trophies which additionally contains two world titles within the street time trial.

Supply: AFP