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Runner-up in the French Cadet Championships in 2019 in Beauvais, after a formidable effort to secure the victory for his Grand Est teammate Gauthier Rouxel, Léo Kraemer caught the attention of recruiters from Team U19 AG2R La Mondiale. After an unprecedented 2020 season, due to the health crisis, within this elite structure that attracts the best cycling prospects of tomorrow, the Alsatian rider gives us an assessment of his first year of integration. Between pride, hard work, and frustration. A look back at his experience.
Interview by Pierre-Maxime Branche. Photos: LK and Van Rysel-AG2R La Mondiale
3Bikes.fr: How do you join such a development structure?
Léo Kraemer: I had to apply! Like for a job. Every year, there are about 250 cyclists who apply for a spot in this elite program. After an initial selection based on road race results, you have a phone interview. The selection is drastic, with only eight profiles chosen. In the end, they only keep four or five…
It’s worse than Parcoursup or medical school!
It’s a tough selection. They usually pick the top five French riders from the national cadet rankings, those who stand out the most from the season. It’s a very attractive structure, one of the best, because the riders are very well supported, it offers many training camps, and provides a lot of equipment.
LÉO IN BRIEF
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What does this change for you, since you ultimately stayed in your home region, Alsace?
Indeed, we remain licensed with our club. It’s a UCI road team; we meet for training camps and races. Throughout the season, we are rivals, then, for a gathering or for major events like Roubaix or Flanders, we put on the Team U19 AG2R La Mondiale jersey and race under the same colors.
On the other hand, I imagine you’ve changed coaches…
It’s entirely possible to keep our personal coaches, but obviously, it’s more logical to be in the hands of the team’s coaches. They know which events you’ll be selected for, what your role will be within the team, so it’s easier for them to plan your training sessions to help you perform at your best.
A guaranteed change in method?
Radical. With new planning tools, optimized sessions, and a shared digital platform so coaches have access to all your data, your power curves, cadence, heart rate, to target your training zones. It’s necessarily very advanced, we go into detail, but it’s extremely enriching. This year, I learned a lot about my body. About my current capabilities and limits. There’s also the mental aspect that we work on, because it’s a determining factor in performance.
Is a move to Chambéry, in Savoie, planned to perfect your training?
That’s a possibility for next year.
In that case, are you putting everything into cycling?
Not at all. Studies are paramount and a sine qua non condition for success within the program. For this, Chambéry provides you with student housing and pays for your schooling. The team remains a non-professional structure, so we also have to secure our future. My first goal is to pass my baccalaureate, which is mandatory. If our contract ends, we need to have a background to fall back on. There’s no question of dropping out of school. For our coaches as well as for us.
Do you feel lucky to be part of this structure?
I’d say proud, rather. But I still keep my feet on the ground. Nothing is guaranteed. We’re with the best French riders, so we quickly see where we stand. And the staff also brings us back down to earth. I know the road is still very long and very hard before I can even glimpse the professional ranks. Beyond sporting qualities and results, there’s an element of luck. You have to win the right races, meet the right people, and know how to surround yourself well.
There’s an element of luck. You have to win the right races, meet the right people, and know how to surround yourself well.
You’re still heading in the right direction, and there’s hope…
Yes, of course. The hope and the desire are there; it’s a dream, in any case. I take things as they come, and this first year has already taught me a lot. About my body, as I said, about my strengths, my weaknesses, but also humanly, about my personality within a group, about team spirit. I also had to take some responsibility. During training camps, we have to partly manage our food and our laundry. It may seem like nothing, but it’s also part of the job. Having a framework. Knowing how to manage yourself.
And on the bike, how did this first season, disrupted by the Covid-19 epidemic, go?
Frustrating, of course. I only participated in two major events. One where I was a substitute, and the other was the Philippe Gilbert, a UCI Junior race, in early October in Belgium. On the first stage, 82 km, I finished 22nd, with the famous Côte de la Redoute; on the second stage, I finished further back, around 50th, but I did solid work to launch my leader, Jordan Labrosse, who won ahead of another Frenchman, Romain Grégoire. A good memory. Covid completely changed the planned calendar, but our staff did everything to keep the group united during this difficult period. We participated in video conferences with our coaches, rode with the pros to benefit from their advice and stay motivated.
What’s your race profile?
I’m a puncheur, that’s what suits me best. I’m quite versatile; I do well in all areas, but currently, I don’t have a specialty. I like riders like Julian Alaphilippe or Benoît Cosnefroy, two men who aren’t afraid to make efforts and attack.
Should we wish you to make it to the professional ranks?
Absolutely, it’s a dream for me, even if it’s a complicated and demanding profession. You’re far from your family, often traveling, it’s hours and hours of training, but it remains my current ideal. Without talking about being the next Alaphilippe, if I could live from my passion, that would already be a lot.
HIS PALMARÈS 2017 (Minime) 2018 (Cadet 1) 2019 (Cadet 2) 2020 (Junior 1)  His 2020 Grand Est champion title, won in Mazeley (88). |
| A word from his father, Maxime Kraemer, president of the Road Team Val de Moder, general treasurer of the Committee 67, and head of the FFC Grand Est committee’s Road Commission: « I wish him a full 2021 season, that he can express himself completely, participate in great races, enjoy himself, but also succeed academically. Of course, that’s the father speaking! May he pursue his dream, but may he also stay connected to reality, that he continues his education to have a profession later on. Cycling is about ten years of career, fifteen for the best. We know it’s uncertain. After the Juniors, there’s the big Espoirs category, not to have physical problems, to remain mentally strong, not to get distracted. Today, after only one year, I see that he has already gained independence, maturity off and on the bike. He’s a big-hearted rider, dedicated and who races fairly. He’s also a well-behaved son, as his supervisors have told me at various races, and that’s perhaps the greatest compliment. » |
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