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Start of a new season

The 2017-2018 season ended with the World Championship in Apeldoorn. Quentin is back to his daily routing of high level athlete i.e. intense training to prepare for the new season after a short break. 

Mid-April you are back to practice after a short break. At the beginning of the season, how is your training? 

Quentin Lafargue: I got back to practice after a camp at the mountain organized by our coaching team.  The preparation is going well. We take time to develop our qualities as it’s more difficult to do so during the season. These training months are the background work of the coming season!

This season is the opening of qualifications for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Can you explain how it works? 

QL: The qualifying rounds for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo start with the European Championship beginning of August in Glasgow and end with the 2020 World Championship in Berlin. On paper, the strategy for the French team is simple. We must be in the 8th best world nation in sprint team. This ranking will ensure a sprint team qualification but also will validate 3 individual quotas. Each member of the sprint team can be chosen by the federation for 1 or 2 individual competitions depending on times achieved during the 2 qualifying years. There can be more than 2 French competitors in each individual competition.

You’ll be back to competition with the World Cycling Revivale Festival in London, an old style cycling competition… 

QL: I’m back to competition in London for an unprecedented competition. It’s the first time it happens, so I don’t know what to expect. Chances are high that it’ll be similar to what we see in Japan! Can’t wait!  

You also take part in the Izu Grand Prix in Japan with a 10 day camp. It’s great to see the future Olympic conditions…

QL: Of course, I’ll attend an international GP in Japan to get ready for the Olympic Games. I’m very excited to go and discover Japan. Besides the Olympic Games, it has been a long time since I wanted to visit Japan. It should be an exciting experience.

At the beginning of August, the European Cycling Championship is organized in Glasgow at the same time as European field track, swimming, gymnastics… a kind of mini Olympic Games. 

QL: The first main objective for 2018/2019 is the European Championship in Glasgow.  The program is built with several disciplines. It’s new. I see it in a good way as field track or swimming are very popular with French media. Our sport can benefit from the media coverage. It’s very positive!!!