Franceinfo: sports followed Sébastien Havot, French e-cycling champion, in his garage, near Reims, during the e-cycling world championships held on Saturday February 18.
Their only horizon is their screens, but they all see the rainbow, that of the world champion’s jersey. The 86 competitors in the men’s elite race of the Mondial de e-cyclisme, organized by the International Cycling Union and the Zwift platform, fought a distance battle on Saturday February 18. The first French champion of the discipline, Sébastien Havot, took part in it from the basement of his home, in the Marne, where he set up a space specifically dedicated to the practice of e-cycling.
Two screens, a computer tower worthy of a professional streamer, two fans, a bicycle, and above all, a home-trainer, the device that replaces the rear wheel, provided by the organization… This state-of-the-art equipment stands out in the basement of the rustic-style house of Sébastien Havot’s parents, where the 26-year-old runner lives, near Reims. Once everything is installed and the cans prepared, he only has to put on the tunic of the French cycling team, compulsory as for any other cycling world championship, since the competitors are filmed by a webcam, whose the retransmission is sometimes done live during the broadcast of the race on Youtube.
From reluctant to champion of France
Other tunics adorn the basement walls. That of junior French cyclo-cross champion in 2014, and a very recent one, the first French e-cycling champion, won on February 4, after having already won the first French e-cycling Cup in January. His good results now encourage him to juggle between the road and virtual racing, and the fact of being a member of a structure, Hexagone, which includes both a road cycling team and an e-cycling team, facilitates things.
“For these world championships, the winner pockets €8,000, the second €4,000 and the third €2,000”
Sébastien Havot, e-cyclist runnerat franceinfo: sport
Originally, however, the runner was not very attracted to virtual races, which became popular during the confinements. “In September 2021, the founder of Hexagone contacted my best friend to join the team, and there was still a place. I was not very hot, but I thought to myself ‘why not try?’. I started doing a few races and finally, I liked it, and here I am at the world championships”. And if some riders have been spotted by professional teams thanks to their good results on Zwift, such as Jason Osborne, the first e-cycling world champion and now teammate of Mathieu van der Poel at Alpecin-Deceuninck, Sébastien Havot does not not a goal. “It’s not a priority, but if an opportunity to sign pro arises, I will take the time to think about it”admits the one who also works part-time in a bike shop because he cannot live from competition.
Advantage to regular players
Selected by the French Cycling Federation, Sébastien Havot prepared for the race with a two-hour outing on Saturday morning to wake up his muscles before the evening race. “You have to be physically ready to get into the game right away”, he explains. While the first two world championships took place over a simple 50 kilometer race, the UCI innovated for the third edition: the 86 riders at the start all compete in the first event, on a slightly hilly fifteen kilometer circuit, then the first thirty are qualified for a second round, over eight kilometers, with more elevation, and finally the ten best are decided on a last round, to win the rainbow jersey. All in a setting designed by Zwift to resemble Scotland and Glasgow, where the next world cycling championships will take place.
Among the competitors on Saturday, some names well known to cycling fans stand out, such as Victor Campenaerts, a professional with the Lotto Dstny team. But professional runners represent only a minority of participants, and some of the competitors even practice cycling only on virtual racing platforms. “These guys are sometimes able to develop the same power as professionals, but on Zwift there is no notion of friction in the peloton or in the sprint, so they do not know how to run on the road, says the Frenchman. On the other hand, they can be advantaged for this championship since the format is quite particular and they have more experience to know when to start a sprint in the game..
Top 10 goal
Two hours before departure, the preparation continues with the weighing. An obligation for the runners, who must film themselves on their scale, proving that it is well calibrated, to allow the platform to best transcribe the effect of their weight in the game. “I don’t think it’s possible to cheatsays Sébastien Havot. We all received the same model of home-trainer, to be on the same footing, and we have two different power sensors, the data of which is compared and must be identical at the end of the race. We must also be locatable for one hour a day in the week preceding and following the competition, for a possible doping control.
The warm-up can then begin for Sébastien Havot, who reconnoitres the race circuit one last time. Before joining, in video, Geoffrey Millour, the second Frenchman involved in these Worlds, from his kitchen, in Brest, and Romain Malbreil, founder of the Hexagon e-cycling team, who will act as sports director. At a distance, all three discuss the strategy to adopt concerning the boosts available to the runners, another particularity of Zwift. They will be able to use, once per race, the “burrito”, which serves to remove suction from their pursuers for a few seconds, or the “anvil”, which allows them to increase their weight and therefore go faster downhill.
For this race, Sébastien Havot can count on the support of his sister, Amandine, and of his best friend and teammate, Pierre, both installed around the bike. At 7:15 p.m., the start is given and the fans are running at full speed to simulate the air received on the road. The first race is going well for the French, well helped by the advice of Romain Malbreil, who has an overview of the race to warn them of potential attacks from other competitors. The final sprint is launched very early, 800 meters from the finish, which forces the competitors to make a considerable effort. The drops of perspiration fall around the bike and the two Frenchmen qualify for the second round.
After a ten-minute break, during which Sébastien Havot did not get off his bike, the second start was given. The percentages rise, and the Frenchman, unaccustomed to being present in the basement during his races, finds it difficult to stay focused. “Stop joking, stay alert”, hammers Romain Malbreil to him. The second race also ends in a sprint, but this time the Frenchman fails and sees the doors of the top 10, his initial objective, close. The champenois is disappointed and his frustration will grow even more watching the third race, won by Bjorn Andreassen, who attacked from the start without being caught by his competitors. “It’s driving me crazy, I had planned the same strategy in the third set”, he breathes. Sixteenth for his first world championships, Sébastien Havot assures that he will try his luck again, to win this time.
