The 23-year-old rider, the announced star of the French paracycling delegation, made the national velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines vibrate on Friday.
:quality(50)/2024/05/03/clement-rond-66349d2a50531026933365.png)
Published
Reading time: 5 min
:quality(50)/2024/08/30/043-kmsp-001775-0031-66d1e9368d51b402057031.jpg)
“I’ve never been stronger.” It’s not for lack of warning. The sentence uttered by Alexandre Léauté, just a week before his first event at the Paris Paralympic Games, resonates with much more force. Friday, August 30, in the heat of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines national velodrome, the French paracycling ace brilliantly defended his crown acquired in Tokyo in the individual pursuit (category C2). A second Paralympic title – and a fifth career medal – at 23 years old, and no doubt even more by the end of the Games on September 8. Enough to make him one of the French stars in the capital.
“A monster of work”
His 5th world record broken in qualifying at the end of the morning this Friday – while his competitors in the other series were fighting for the Paralympic record, before finishing more than three seconds behind the French cyclist (!) – immediately made things clear. Yes, Alexandre Léauté is dominating his category. And for Laurent Thirionet, performance manager of the French paracycling team, even if it seems obvious, it is a fact that he owes only to his work.
“I saw him transformhe explains. In Tokyo, he was a kid, today he is a man. He is an extraordinary athlete with extraordinary muscles. But above all, he is a huge hard worker, a workaholic. He does nothing but that every day, whether in the weight room, training on the road, on the track… Today, if he is number one, it is thanks to that. He works harder than the others.”
Paralympics 2024 – Cycling: uncompromising, Alexandre Léauté retains his crown
Paralympics 2024 – Cycling: uncompromising, Alexandre Léauté retains his crown
(Paralympics 2024 – Cycling: uncompromising, Alexandre Léauté retains his crown)
“His greatest strength is his demands on himself and the interest he takes in his project, confirms the coach of the French paracycling team Mathieu Jeanne. He is proactive and does not hesitate to try things, to go and test himself in the national division with able-bodied players… It is the mark of a strong character and of someone who knows what he wants.”
A disability that is difficult to classify
The discussions that could have taken place a few years ago about the inequity in his category – some of his opponents being one-legged, which is not the case for the Frenchman – no longer exist, according to Laurent Thirionet. “He was beaten by these athletes, and today he beats them”he specifies.
Alexandre Léauté’s hemiplegia makes life difficult, especially when bending and straightening his right leg. It also affects his upper body, such as his hand and arm, requiring a special grip on the bike. Doctors, neurologists and other medical specialists on the international classifiers panel considered that the spasticity from which his leg was affected was equivalent to a one-legged person pedaling with only one leg without mechanical resistance on the other side.
Unfailing serenity
When asked about his star status, and in particular about the comparison some make between him and Léon Marchand, quadruple gold medalist at the Olympic Games a few weeks ago, his smile lights up. “It always makes me laugh! But I don’t like it too much, confesses the main person concerned. He did something great, he is calm, I admire him. But Alexandre Léauté is going to achieve great things, I hope that I will be remembered because I made history, not because he did it.”
Paralympics 2024 – Cycling: gold medal, Marseillaise in unison, Alexandre Léauté is on cloud nine
Reserved in life, Alexandre Léauté is an example of serenity, which contrasts with his ferocity once his feet are on the pedals. As for the pressure, it seems to slide off him. “I don’t realize it, I’m originally from Loudéac (Côtes-d’Armor)! I’m not under any pressure. If I’m a headliner, great, if not, too bad. No problem if they put that on my shoulders, I can deal with it.”
A champion who plays as a team
You only had to see him jump into the arms of his “buddies” from the French team, Kévin Le Cunff and Thomas Peyroton-Dartet, barely off the saddle, to understand the importance he attaches to his teammates. Under the spotlight, Alexandre Léauté never forgets to have a word for those with whom he spends most of his time in training.
“There is a real dynamic in this team. The staff announced 25 medals at these Games in Paris, I don’t know if we realize it! It’s huge, all the French runners are stars because we can all claim the title. I am the first to support everyone. We meet up at the hotel at the end of the competitions, something has developed between us.”
A proud representative of Brittany
The Breton flags displayed everywhere on Friday August 30, in the stands of the national velodrome, gave a slight indication of what Léauté represents for an entire region. “A pride, a champion on a global scale”slipped the mayor of Saint-Caradec, the town where he grew up, a few hours ago in West France. And the Paralympic champion has not forgotten where he comes from: for his debut in Paris, he had two buses of supporters chartered to come and encourage him. Fans who took to the road at three in the morning to be by his side.
Paralympics 2024: the Breton village of Saint-Caradec came to support Alexandre Léauté
Paralympics 2024: the Breton village of Saint-Caradec came to support Alexandre Léauté
(France 2)
“I didn’t have much fun on the bike, it was mostly extreme pain, but that everyone was able to encourage me like that was really cool.”he explained, the medal around his neck. A medal that he will, once the Games are over, undoubtedly present on his Breton lands.