Downhill is the worst example of mountain biking disciplines in Quebec and the Fédération québécoise des sports cyclists (FQSC) wants to remedy the situation within five years.
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For Tristan Lemire, there is a reason to explain the low presence of descendants from La Belle Province at the top of the pyramid.
“It’s definitely more difficult in Quebec, but we’re having a shitty winter,” said the flag bearer of the American team Transition. All athletes are good and fast, and you can’t ride five or six months of the year and expect to be successful.
“The closest place I can train in the winter is a 17-hour drive in Tennessee,” Lemire continued. The guys from Whistler are just a three-hour drive from Mont Prévost. When I was younger I used to beat Jackson Goldstone and he is now ranked 3rd in the overall World Cup rankings.”
Injuries that undermine his confidence
Lemire was upset by several injuries last year and was very happy to have qualified for the finals as this was his first year in the elite category. “Due to the injuries, I’m only slowly regaining my self-confidence. I’m looking forward to running stress-free and having fun. I fell behind in the first World Championships due to my hand injury and my opponents have been going full throttle for three months.
Five-year schedule
The FQSC is giving itself five years to turn things around. “It is one of the medium-term priorities to revive downhill skiing,” assured the head of mountain biking at FQSC Fabien Bleau. We will hold a consultation in January to find out where things stand.”
Some elements are obvious to explain this decline. “Discipline was already in trouble before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has made things worse,” Bleau said. We have gone from a competitor pool of 400 to 450 ten years ago to a pool of 100 to 150 currently.”
Two main factors are identified. “The competitive network has reduced significantly,” Bleau said. We held a national event in Tremblant and three provincial events as well as some regional competitions. We hosted a provincial championship this year, but the network is in a delicate position.
“Also, many downhill enthusiasts have turned to enduro, which is very successful,” added Bleau. We used to have 50 percent of the national team athletes, but now we occasionally find one or two. Our best downhill rider, Hugo Langevin, retired four years ago.”
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