2023-11-04 12:00:26
The young 18-year-old Berjallienne, recently settled in Savoie, junior world road champion this summer, has a busy autumn between her new life with Cofidis and her cyclo-coss season. On the evening of a UCI race in Dijon and before leaving to supervise a training course for juniors and cadets of the Comité de Savoie, she confides. In complete tranquility.
What has changed for you since August 5, the date of your world title won in Glasgow?
Already, I was very happy to win, it was the accomplishment of my season with all the training carried out with this goal of victory. It was my goal and I achieved it, it was a great joy. And at the same time, it was a big void followingwards. I quickly refocused on the European Championships but I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I also knew that I was turning pro at Cofidis and that I had to train for the following seasons, that’s what re-motivated me followingwards. Otherwise, not much has changed, my life is still the same. I go to train and I like to cycle so I cycle (smile). What has changed above all is that I have a lot more interviews than before. Apart from that, I still live with my parents, in Les Marches, below Mont Granier, where we moved from Bourgoin a year and a half ago.
Are you continuing your studies?
Yes, I am in integrated preparation at the Polytech school, on the Bourget-du-Lac campus. Last year I did my first year in one year, that was a lot of hours of lessons, often from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., knowing that not having a license I had to go back and forth to the university by bike, or 20 km. There, by having more training, I decided to do my 2nd year in two years: I have a note taker when I’m not there in class; my math exam didn’t go very well, I’m entitled to hours of math support. After the preparation, the engineering cycle is normally done in 3 years but I will see how I organize it.
Let’s get back to the athlete: if there’s something that’s changed, it’s the way people look at you, right?
It’s certain that during the junior races following my title, as soon as I barely got up from the saddle to attack, everyone shouted: “Bego, Bego, Bego” (smile), I was much more marked. Girls, even among the Elites, know who I am. But for the moment, I don’t feel any particular pressure from the fact that I was junior world champion.
How did the Europe take place in mid-September in the Netherlands?
The route suited me quite well: an uphill finish with a last minute push, I had prepared myself well. But on this last climb, I was poorly placed at the back of the peloton and as a result I mightn’t do anything: I finished 13th. Between us, within the French team, there was not the team spirit that there was at the World Cup: Léane Tabu and I were leaders and the girls did not necessarily want to join us. help to get a title, each played their card because it was the opportunity to get noticed to go pro next year…
Exactly, how is your life among the pros, within the Cofidis team?
My contract starts on January 1st, for the moment I am officially a trainee but I was able to participate in two races with Cofidis at the end of September-beginning of October, the Giro dell’Emilia and the 3 Vallées varésines. My role was to attack and take the blows at the start of the race: I managed to take the breakaway, then we were caught, I was caught in the fall just before the finish, which meant that I fell behind, so even if I managed to rejoin the peloton, it was complicated. During the 2nd race, I was able to attack, to be an actress in the race but I was let go just before the last bump. I might see that it’s another level than the juniors. It’s much harder, it’s a more continuous effort, it’s flat out all the time… when it starts to go fast, it doesn’t stop! On the other hand, I saw that I was still good: I was able to make attacks and still be in the peloton at the end, that’s pretty good.
Does this give you ideas for the next deadlines?
Already, this gives me confidence, I tell myself that I am not completely lost, and I should get there next season. We’ll have to see, it will be more of a year of discovery. I don’t have the precise calendars yet – I just know that I have an internship in December in Spain which will be an opportunity to get to know the girls a little better – but I should start once more at the end of February-beginning of March, I think.
In the meantime, you continue cyclo-cross…
Yes with the objective of the French Championships on January 14. I ran a race in Dijon this Wednesday. It was the first muddy cyclo-cross of the season, and technically I was lacking bearings. In addition, no luck, the mud tubulars were poorly glued and as a result I had to do everything with the intermediate tubulars which were not notched enough on this type of terrain. I finished 5th following having done 3 laps in the lead while trying to compensate for the lack of technique with physique… I should race the Coupe de France in Albi on November 11 and 12 then another UCI race in Turin on the 18th.
What do the two sports represent for you in relation to each other: cycling and road?
For me, it was very important to continue cyclo-cross, it’s something that makes you progress on the road, technically and physically, it brings other physical qualities than the road, it’s more explosiveness . And then, above all, I don’t see myself stopping the road in winter and telling myself that I will have to be ready to resume in February, without competition before. Cyclo-cross allows me to stay motivated, to always have short-term goals and that is important to me.
How did you start cycling?
During a race near my house, I was 12 years old. At the time, I watched the Tour de France on TV and I loved racing the climbs with my father but I was doing athletics at CSBJ and I didn’t like the throws or the jumps, only the running. So I’m taking part in this race with my flat pedal mountain bike: I’m 2nd overall and 1st girl, having given all the girls a lap. I was super happy. A week later, there was a cyclo-cross in La Léchère, in Savoie. I finished a little further away but we immediately met Jean-Pierre Boget, from the Chambéry cycling school and I signed up. They actually loaned me a bike, which allowed me to see if cycling was really my sport. I only ran one road race and then followed it up with cycling, so you might say that I started directly with cross country and I’ve been doing road and cycling seasons for 6 years now. I love both: when it’s the end of the road, I can’t wait to start the cycling season and vice versa.
What explains your qualities, particularly as a climber?
I have always loved surpassing myself. When I went mountain biking with my father, he had to slow down at the top of the hills because I wanted to win at all costs and I pushed myself beyond what was possible, just to beat him. I always loved climbing hills, I did lots of them with my parents. In Bourgoin, I lived in Domarin, Montée de l’Épallud, with a 2 km climb and a passage at 17%, to get home. Today, it is the Col du Granier that I climb most often. There are also the laces of Montvernier, in Maurienne where my parents have a house, I love doing them thoroughly. But even though I do them thoroughly, I still don’t have the QOM (queen of the mountain) on Strava so I still have to persist (laughs).
What are your ambitions for this first professional season?
What I would like is to discover as many races as possible. It’s always complicated to have precise ambitions. Even though I had a glimpse of the level with these two races, I don’t really know how it will go. I’m just setting myself the Tour de l’Avenir for the Women’s Hopes with the French team.
And participating in the Olympics, do you dream of it?
Yes obviously, it’s been a dream of mine since I was little! Afterwards, Paris 2024 will be too soon. There are only 3 places for France and there is a very high level in the French team. So for sure, I won’t be there. But why not Los Angeles in 2028!
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