The big day of Marie Le Net, “daughter of the shadows” crowned French champion of cycling

She had proclaimed it: “This year, that’s it for the road. »» Its result, Saturday, June 28, agreed with Marie Le Net, who was expressed in early January in The telegram. At 25, the FDJ-Suez runner won her first title of French Road Cycling Champion, by winning alone in Herbiers (Vendée), after a race mastered by her training. Second, in 2023, and often confined to a team role, the Breton won the tricolor jersey after having escaped 8 kilometers from the finish. She is ahead of her partner Léa Curinier and the runner of Cofidis Julie Bego, 39 seconds at the top of Mont des Alouettes.

“We know that the French championship is an open race, and that everythingsavor the new French champion, overwhelmed by emotion, at the microphone of Eurosport. We had the best team on paper, but then we have to do. And (…) We did it, I have the impression that we checked the race from A to Z, and I can never thank my teammates enough, I am indebted for them. »»

In the heat of the Vendée circuit-the organizers of the race announced, on Saturday, reduce the distance from the male race on Sunday, due to the heat wave that falls on France-, the FDJ-Suez training led a high-flying collective race. “We always had to be overwhelming and having one step ahead”explained Marie the net, and the runners in blue jumped into the wheel of the slightest escape, imposing their rhythm on the test. “They were new, and they followed us every time, so it was difficult to make the difference”confirmed on Eurosport Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-oatly), which could not double the bet after its national title in the background on Thursday.

“I am one of the little elves”

100 kilometers from the finish, Marie Le Net seized the breakaway, not to leave the head of the race. “Why was I who left?” Frankly I don’t know, luck was with me ”she smiled. The girls in blue have endeavored to skim the breakaway, then to tire the last survivor, the young Julie Bego (20), who could not respond to the last attack on Breton. The culmination of a team strategy developed by the FDJ-Suez, armada of the female circuit to whom the blue, white, red jersey has escaped for three years.

“We had to remedy it. We were running very well in other years, but we were cracking at the end, there we anticipated things, and we did not wait for the last kilometers ”put forward the manager of the FDJ-Suez, Stephen Delcourt, on Eurosport, welcoming the “Exceptional depth” of its workforce: “Those who sacrifice themselves all year round for Juliette [Labous]Demi [Vollering] and to avoid [Muzic] are also able to win. »»

If Marie Le Net struggled to realize on Saturday, refusing to believe that she would endorse the tricolor jersey for a year, it is that Breton is usually confined to a role of teammate. “I am one of the little elves around the big leadersshe said in January on Actu.fr. My role is to ensure that they make as little effort as possible during a race, so that they shine. »» His manager does not say anything else: “It is a girl in the shadows, who works a lot. She has incredible qualities on the dish and in reminders, so we make her work sometimes very earlyexplained Stephen Delcourt. It participates in major races to protect leaders. »»

Not guaranteed to compete in the Tour de France

Since 2023, the Frenchwoman had put her career on the road in parentheses to focus on an Olympic objective, at the Paris 2024 Games on the track. If she has not won a medal in team pursuit (5^e) On the track of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (Yvelines), La Bretonne has found its team this year. “For her, it’s a pivotal season. She had the freedom to express himself on her Olympic project for a year and a half, she is now indebted to usput forward Stephen Delcourt in The telegram in January. Can she come back to her top on the road, knowing that the gap is very important between level 2022 and that of 2025? (…) It is she who has the answers. »» On Saturday, she delivered some.

Vice-champion of the junior world in 2018, Marie Le Net is not yet guaranteed to compete in the next Tour de France (from July 26 to August 3), as the FDJ-Suez team is armed for the Grande Loop. Reinforced at the offseason by the Dutch Demi Vollering, winner of the 2023 edition, the French training tackles the tour with great ambitions. “Everyone talks to me about the Tour de France. We do not have the selection yet, but he leaves from Brittany, and if I am part of it, you will really see the eyes of a little girl ”concluded the new French champion, between laughter and tears.