After leaving his village of Saint-Caradec and his cycling club in Loudéac (Côtes-d’Armor) in the middle of the night, two buses of Breton supporters arrived especially to cheer him on. “Of course I heard them, welcomed Alexandre Léauté, crowned Paralympic champion in the individual pursuit (3,000 metres), on Friday 30 August at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome (Yvelines). The crowd impressed me: I had never ridden a bike with so much noise around me. I owe part of my title to them.
With his 19 world championship titles, Alexandre Léauté is, at just 23 years old, the spearhead of the French para-cycling team. The track rider who competes in the C2 category, which brings together cyclists who suffer from hemiplegia or who travel with only one leg, aspires to win the championship. “at least three gold medals”assured World a few weeks before the Paralympic event. “What you have done today is just the beginning of your harvest, confides Laurent Thirionet, coach of the Bleus. It puts the whole team on the right track. » At the 2021 Tokyo Games, para-cycling was the flagship discipline of the French delegation; three years later, in front of a Breton and French public, it hopes to win more than twenty medals.
On Friday, Alexandre Léauté dominated his subject. During the qualification, he broke his own world record, completing the 3,000 metres in 3:24.298 (compared to 3:25.888). Then, to win his second Paralympic title after winning the same event in Tokyo, he dominated Belgian Ewoud Vromant in the final, finishing more than two seconds ahead. A huge gap. However, the runner needed time to appreciate this 3,000-metre distance. “At first I didn’t really like it, he remembers. But the Tokyo Games gave me confidence. One day I took the plunge and everything went well. And then I’m not afraid of anything. »
“The kind of man who knows what he wants”
Alexandre Léauté has a disability that cannot be seen “but it is very real”precise. Suffering from hemiplegia on his right side, the track runner has almost no strength and no feeling in this half of his body. When he pedals, his left leg provides 95% of the effort. The cause of his disability is believed to be related to a stroke at birth. “Doctors assumed this happened when the brain had not been irrigated with oxygen, he says. My parents realised when I was two that I had a problem because I couldn’t speak, walk or eat properly. It was while they were doing an MRI that we discovered I had lesions on my brain. »
You have 52.29% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
