Four world titles (twice omnium, American and points race), eight European titles and an Olympic bronze medal. At 27, Benjamin Thomas has already generously stocked his trophy cabinet thanks to track cycling. The Tarnais will be one of the headliners of a conquering French team at home for the world championships of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelinesfrom Wednesday to Sunday.
The Cofidis rider displays a rare profile, with performances also noticed on the road. To stick to 2022, he won the Etoile de Bessèges and the Boucles de la Mayenne, and “almost won”, to within 400 meters, the 15th stage of the Tour de France on his Occitan lands, between Rodez and Carcassonne . However, Thomas retains a particular tenderness for the confined atmosphere of the track, where he intends to shine at home, this week and then in less than two years, during the Olympic Games.
What races are you going to compete in?
The pursuit by teams, the omnium and the American, that is to say three Olympic disciplines. The goal will be to get the best possible result. Last year (at the World Championships in Roubaix), we finished second in the team pursuit (behind the untouchable Italians), we will try to reproduce this performance. The omnium and the American are peloton races so everything is playable. There is a little more chance than in the chase where it’s really the clock that speaks. You have to have a little more success but the podium is possible and that will be my objective.
What is your favorite test?
I take great pleasure in running the American (contested in relay with Donavan Gurnard). It’s really a great effort and the fact that it has become an Olympic discipline again gives it a nice dimension. This is the queen event, spectacular. There is not only the physical aspect but also the technical and strategic aspects, which are even more important than in other events.
You will run in the velodrome where the French team trains. Can we talk about a big advantage?
This is necessarily an advantage, in addition to having the public with you. I had the chance to do the Worlds there in 2015 when I was still hopeful, in the race for points. It’s a great memory. We train all the time in Saint-Quentin, the European championships and World Cups have been organized there. We know the track inside out.
This velodrome will also host the 2024 Olympic Games. Is this event already in your head?
These Worlds serve as a dress rehearsal. The pressure will start to rise, little by little. The Games are still something special, it will be a notch more. Yes, it’s already in the back of your mind. Olympic qualification begins early next year. Mentally, these world championships will be important to reassure yourself about the different events, the pursuit in particular, by setting good times, and to gain confidence before the start of qualifying.
There are big expectations around the French team, with a young generation and results in clear progress…
We are on a good dynamic, as we saw during the European championships. It’s a continuation of what we did in Tokyo (two bronze medals in team sprint then in the American with Benjamin Thomas and Donavan Grondin). The girls would also have deserved an American medal, like Clara Copponi on the omnium if she had not fallen. We continue to progress.
Can we say that you are a leader of this team?
The team is young and I am almost one of the old ones. But a large part of the group has already made the Olympics in Tokyo, both boys and girls, and gained a lot of experience. Among the girls, there is Clara who already has this leadership. I try to bring my experience, but everyone brings their stone to the building.
We are going to expect a lot from the French cyclists at the Paris Olympics. How do you prepare to handle this pressure?
I have already had this experience at the Tokyo Games. They almost put the medal around my neck before the omnium and it didn’t work for me at all. I finished in 4th placethe worst.
Would an Olympic title be a consecration despite your already very extensive record?
Yes, that would close the loop. But you have to go get it. You can win the races you want before, but to have a medal at the Games, you have to be there on D-Day. I believe a lot in fate. It will happen if it has to happen. Otherwise, it won’t take away everything I’ve done.
You are double French time trial champion, in 2019 and 2021. Is it imaginable to see you on the road, for the time trial, in 2024?
It’s a bit early to decide. I need to rework this discipline that I neglected this season. We’ll see. The priority remains the track.
Even if we can cite Wiggins, Cavendish or O’Grady, this track-road versatility is rare. How do you juggle between disciplines?
The versatility comes from the fact that they are riders who have a passion, a love of the track. I have been doing both for over 10 years. We don’t give up on the track because we like it, it’s really in our genes. Every time we come back, it’s a pleasure. We must not hide it: we are paid by teams on the road, and on the track we come to run almost voluntarily. Last year, I gave up a Tour de France, which I could have competed in, to do the Games. Once again, these are choices that we make out of passion.
How would you define this pleasure of the track?
We find a small world, with a great atmosphere even between national teams. Running in a closed place is like a spectacle, whereas on the road people only see us go by for a few seconds. There is a lot more communication with the public. In the Tour de France, the atmosphere is incredible but you see people for two seconds and at the next bend, they have disappeared. And then, in the France team, we are all friends.
How can the track and the road be complementary?
The track teaches you to drive fast. My qualities in the time trial, I worked on them on the track. Velocity, sprints, intense efforts, etc. The road brings resistance and endurance, when trials follow one another. In the omnium for example, it allows you to be level on the four tests. On a one-hour American, it allows you to be as efficient in the last 10 kilometers as at the start of the race.
But the track will give us this agility, this leg speed which can be used on the road for a sprint finish or finishes like that of Carcassonne in the Tour de France. Driving very fast for an hour at an average speed of more than 50 km/h, and standing up to a peloton, is something that only the track can bring us.
However, it is more profitable to be a backpacker…
Yes it’s sure. But I am lucky and privileged to have a team, Cofidis, which frees me to go on the track. I try to give the best of myself on the road, I participated in a lot of competitions. My team still benefits from a return on investment and that gives it a good image of multidisciplinary and complete training with runners who do track, a women’s team, a disabled sports team…
What are your goals for the coming years?
Going back to the Tour de France next year, because I have great memories of it. A lot of people still talk to me about the Carcassonne stage, about this getaway with my family and my friends by the side of the road. And of course there is Paris 2024 with the Olympic qualifications.
I want to confirm my good season and continue to progress. I am a runner who runs on instinct. I like to go ahead, get off the beaten track. It’s my philosophy. I want to get out of this cycling where everything is calculated and where you make the minimum effort.