French cyclocross is dying because teams view "cyclocross as purely and simply preparation for road" according to ex-pro

This weekend, the cyclocross World Cup visits France for the second round of this winter in Flammanville. France will have favourites for victory in under-23 categories mainly thanks to Aubin Sparfel and Célia Gery, but odds of a big success in the main events are slim. And as success, we're referring to a top-10 result in men's race and top-5 in women's event. The situation gets even more dire the further you look into it as both French champions are currently without a contract for 2026 after disbanding of Arkéa - B&B Hotels.

During his career, Steve Chainel fought a similar battle to that the current French champion Clément Venturini is going through right now. According to the 42-year-old, French teams simply don't want to hear about mixing cyclocross with road, and the UCI's schemes to make points from off-road disciplines count towards UCI ranking don't seem to change a thing about the ingrained approach.

"I've ridden for almost every French team, and I can tell you that the same motto applies everywhere: cyclocross is purely and simply preparation for the road," former French cyclocross champion Chainel told WielerFlits in an extensive interview.

"No matter how talented you are in cyclocross as a junior, the big teams don't really consider it a specialty. That's why Arnaud Jouffroy, Julian Alaphilippe, and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot never had a major cyclocross career. As soon as they turn pro, the teams say: stop! The same thing happened to Quentin Jauregui not long ago. He even finished third in the U23 World Cup, but as a pro, he was no longer allowed to race cyclocross full-time. Joshua Dubau, on the other hand, has returned to mountain biking."

And according to Chainel, it's a sad thing that cyclocross doesn't get the necessary support and approval as a form of preparation from the top French road structures. With son Caliste (17), he's seen first-hand that the best French cyclocrossers in youth categories can easily match the talent growing in Belgium and the Netherlands, however any decent rider turns to road as soon as they graduate from the junior ranks as a cyclocrosser's career is hardly sustainable in France.

"I regularly go to junior races, where there are over 200 riders at the start. They all love cyclocross, and so do their parents. My son is 17 and is crazy about Wout van Aert, but Mathieu van der Poel is also a huge inspiration. But after their youth years, you have to make a choice: earn money on the road with a big team and barely race cyclocross, or continue racing cyclocross in a small club team with limited budgets."

Small change is evident in Decathlon where the development team talent Aubin Sparfel is allowed to do a full cyclocross winter. He already repaid the trust with a silver medal at the under-23 European Championships, but in 2027 he's expected to turn professional with the French team, and it remains to be seen if he's still allowed to ride cyclocross then.

"At Decathlon CMA CMG, the tide is starting to turn a bit, but again, it's the riders' own initiative. Aubin Sparfel is currently the biggest cyclocross talent in France, and he's been smart. He signed a substantial contract with Decathlon, and it stipulates that he wants to be able to compete every winter. He's a true enthusiast of the sport and is thinking about the Olympic Games."

Because not even junior world champion Léo Bisiaux is allowed to ride cyclocross in the winter anymore as the French team hopes that alongside another former junior CX star Paul Seixas, the duo can grow to be the next French GC stars on road.

"I happened to be on a podcast with Léo this week," Chainel revealed. "You'd think that as a former world champion, he'd also get opportunities in cyclocross, but when I asked him about it, he immediately said that at Decathlon, the only thing that matters is that he develops into a top climber for the general classification. That might be what suits him best."