Romain Sicard became the first Frenchman to ever win the U23 World Championships yesterday in Mendrisio, Switzerland. The newly crowned World Champion, who will ride for the Basque formation Euskatel-Euskadi next season, was interviewed by L'Equipe about his history making performance.
“Together with Michel Kreder I attacked in the last lap, because I didn’t feel that great. We went full gas to gain as much of an advantage as possible, partly because of the tricky descent. On the last climb I noticed that Kreder couldn’t hold on, that when I shifted down a gear. My win is thanks to my teammates, especially Arthur Vichot. They helped me tremendously, something I will never forget.”
When asked about his future, Sicard told the French paper, “I think that I’m at my best in stage races. I do need to work on my time trial, because I’ve only ridden one good one (in the Tour de L’avenir). I’ve been dreaming of Paris-Nice and the Tour. We shall see, I can still grow a lot. But I will have to work very hard.”
Despite interest from several top French teams, the 21 year old, who currently rides Euskatel’s feeder team, Orbea-Oreka, chose to stay with the Basques.
“Everything is well organized, I have everything I need. That’s why I have booked a lot of progression.”
The future for French cycling is looking bright with the Feillu brothers Romain and Brice, and now Sicard with his World's triumph.