Firing for French gold

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Frenchman Grégory Baugé (Image credit: AFP)

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Grégory Baugé: Yes, well, I started when I was nine. I learned quickly and won that cyclo-cross race just six months later. It was at Conflans, in the Yvelines region. Cyclo-cross is a form of racing that I still love. I can't ride it any more because of the track season, but if I get a chance to see a race, whether it's the youngsters or the stars, I go along. I rode cyclo-cross until I was 16.

GB: I'm not sure "push" is the right word. When I started, he was hesitant because I'd already been doing football for a while. When I said I wanted to take up cycling, there was the question of getting a licence to sort out, which was fairly expensive. Then we had to buy a bike… I had to justify myself. And that's how it started. But from the day I started, my dad always supported me, accompanied me to races and took me on all the long journeys. He was always there beside me.

But things weren't going so well for me on the road. The races weren't going the way I wanted them to. So I went to the track, just to see. That was when I was about 13 years old. It was a sprint championship at the Cipale track here in Paris - the national cadet championship. I really enjoyed it - and I came second. Even though I didn't win, it gave me a lot of pleasure. And that's how my track career started. I made my choice. My father [was all for it] because he recognised that I wouldn't face the obstacles I would on the road, like doping and maybe the colour of my skin. Et voila!

GB: It was kids - I was still in the cadets. But, for me, it was normal. I'd hear things and so would my family. I didn't hear stuff so often from the young riders, but when you looked them in the face, you could see what they were thinking. When a black rider wins, the person you beat can get annoyed. My parents told me not to take any notice, not to say anything. They brought me up well and so that's what I did. Yes, it hurts, but on the other hand, it just made me push the pedals even harder.

French National Sports Institute, where Baugé trains] in races - at world and national championships. I loved the way he won his races - his concentration. When he was at the top he had huge, impressive legs. I got to know Tournant through the kilometre. He's a beast! When I was a kid I watched his kilometre attempt on the internet. He can really push himself on a bike. It's respect that I have for him. It's just not human to do things like that - not human.

GB: How? Well, it was the World Championship, it was in France, and a lot was expected, especially of me, because I'd already won the World Cup and I hadn't lost in three or four outings. And then, on the day of the race, I just didn't have the legs. Physically I was there, but mentally I was somewhere else. I was trembling, I wasn't myself. And I went out in the first round. I tried to react when [Italy's Roberto Chiappa] jumped, but like I said, I wasn't in the right state of mind. I was just a tourist on a bike.

GB: I don't know about that, but I think it's normal that when one country dominates a discipline then the others will watch and see what tools they can borrow to train their riders. We've been at the top, but we're not the only country who are up there. There are four or five others who have all the backing - financial, equipment… We have to train on a track of an unrecognised distance, 165m. It's better now than it used to be because they've done some work on it. Before, it was full of holes, and when it rained puddles would form on the track.

GB: I've always been attracted by athletics. I've never hidden that. I wanted to try it before I took up cycling. I've tried it since. The day I decide to stop racing on a bike, nobody will be able to talk me out of trying to run the 100m. I told someone here at the Sports Institute that I wanted to have a go at running, and she must have told one of the heads of athletics because he came to see who this cyclist was who was talking about running.

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