Interview Bénédicte Ollier (EN)

 Interview Bénédicte Ollier 

France is a a country that has many legends in cycling. Even that there are still many great cyclists today, we already can notice the new generation. Bénédicte Ollier is one of these talents. She's a multiple vice-worldchampion who won 3 silver medals on the most recent junior worldchampionships. How does the life of the a young athlete look like and what are her ambitions for the future?

 

On the last worldchampionships, you won 3 silver medals. How has this week been for you?

It's a week that will stay in my mind. So many emotions. First of all so much stress, pressure and the deception after the qualifications for the team pursuit where we realized a time that was worse then we did on training before. Fortunately, the whole team succeeded to mobilize again to take the silver medal on the day after. Afterwards, there was a lot less pressure and I could enjoy the other races and medals!

You didn't have a lot of competition before the worldchampionship. Was it hard to prepare yourself for this competition without knowing much about the other cyclists?

Yes, it's sure that it was an extra pressure that I didn't know what to expect when I arrived on track. I didn't know that I was on a good level, so there was a lot more stress. But those conditions were especially due to the covid pandemic so it was the same for the other riders!

Now you're active on the road and on the track. Would you like to combine it in the future too?

Yes, I will continue to practice sometimes on the road and sometimes on the track even that my main goals are on the track. The road is very important to prepare for these goals.

Who was your inspiration to enter cycling competitions?

I'm not part of a cycling family so I haven't really watched a lot of races on TV and I didn't have idols when I started to enter the competitions. In fact, it's my neighbour who was in school with me when I was 6 or 7 years old who invited me to join on MTB tours.

What are your dreams in the sport?

My dream is to become an Olympic champion on the track

Your country France has a very big history in the sport. Do you know well the national legends of the sport like Bernhard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Jeannie Longo or Pauline Ferrand-Prévot for example?

I'm interested in the history of my sport but I prefer to follow the athletes who are writing history at this moment. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot has done a good job, like Benjamin Thomas or Julian Alaphilippe too!

Do you like to train based on data or do you prefer to train by instinct without many numbers?

I train very few without bike computer. I'm used to know permantly the watts and my heart beat on my bike computer, more specific on the road.On the track it's different because it's forbidden to have a bike computer on the bike. So I'm forced to do it more by feelings even that we still have time indications that are written on the board of our trainer, especially in the pursuit. I suppose that I am quite depending on the data and technology for training. I think that it's an interesting method that can be interesting but it never replaces feelings.

What would you like to say to other young girls who thinks about taking part in the sport too?

I advice them to let them surround themselves well, to be patient and to b persistent because cycling is a difficult sport and the results won't always be there, but they shouldn't lose their courage! And most of all the most important is to always have fun!