Bringing some good news in a month where the country learned that it would have just one ProTeam in 2011, the French cycling federation (FFC) has announced a record growth in terms of the number of those doing the sport.
A total of 109,332 licences were issued during the 2010 season, a new high for the federation and one which bodes very well for the future. It represents an increase of 3.5% over the 2009 figures, with the majority of those gains coming in the areas of BMX (up by 13%) and MTB (+8%). There was also a stabilisation of the number of road licences issued, which had previously been falling.
The FFC has set the goal of further increasing the licences next year.
French cycling had been affected by the scandals of recent years, causing a drop in interest. Today’s news is therefore very welcome, as it shows that things are improving. The stabilisation of the road licence numbers is also good news as this is the area most directly affected by problems in the Tour de France and other races.
Cycling in the country has also been affected by the quieter performances of French riders in recent seasons. It has been many years since French riders were contenders for the final yellow jersey, and while there is no sign just yet of riders who could challenge in that area, the 2010 Tour was nevertheless a success for French competitors.
They won a total of six stages, with Sylvain Chavanel netting two and Sandy Casar, Christope Riblon, Thomas Voeckler and Pierrick Fedrigo all taking one apiece. Chavanel wore the yellow jersey on two separate occasions, and Frenchmen Jérome Pineau and Anthony Charteau had a two-man battle throughout the race for the King of the Mountains classification. The latter eventually took the polka-dot jersey to Paris.
The FFC will hope that things continue to build in 2011 and that its riders continue to develop in terms of competitiveness. It’s 25 years since Bernard Hinault took his fifth Tour, and he remains the last Frenchman to win the Maillot Jaune.