Since the start of the season, Antoine Ferdinand has been throwing his arms around giving himself cramps. In total, the young puncher of CS Mainvilliers is already at twelve victories.
Perfectly distributed: six on the track and as many on the road. The symbol of the 15-year-old’s off-road success. “At his age, many riders have potential. He has it, but in addition, he gives himself the means to succeed, ”welcomes his president and trainer at the CSM, Thierry Foucher.
Ferdinand as boss
Even if he does not necessarily imagine breaking into cycling, the recent junior departmental champion in Houx would not decline a destiny like Julian Alaphilippe.
Or more exactly to Florian Rousseau: “If I have to succeed one day, it will rather be on the track. Because it corresponds more to my qualities of speed but also because I find the atmosphere more family. Everyone knows each other, ”says the young high school student in the personal assistance professional baccalaureate, at the Jehan de Beauce high school.
This preference for the ring, the road-tracker has maintained for many years: “I really got into it in 2018. But long before that, I was going to see my mother in competition”, continues the 2nd year cadet. . Good blood cannot lie since he is the son of Angélique Barboux, multiple regional champion on the road, time trial and… track for young people, and Frédéric Ferdinand, former regional cyclocross champion.
See you in “France”, in Hyères
From there to think that his future is all mapped out, there is a big step. “Antoine is a humble boy but who lives from day to day without setting too high goals,” says his mother, forced to recall that her boy enjoys the status of high-level athlete, registered on the lists federal.
Less than a month ago (from April 18 to 22), he also took part in an academic internship with the French team, at the Bourges velodrome (Cher), under the thumb of the former champion of the world of the American, Morgan Kneisky.
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Suffice to say that the turn of the track has already begun, Antoine Ferdinand, capable of winning in cyclo-cross as in the Prix Souvenir Daniel Mareau on November 8, is already aiming for the French championships, which will take place from November 20 to August 27, in Hyères (Var), unless the program changes. “This year, we will have to prioritize. The two national events are organized opposite each other (the “road” is scheduled for August 13 in Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, in the Manche department).
Last year, I was able to do road and track because the two French championships were geographically close (Bourges and Lorrez-le-Bocage, in Seine-et-Marne, editor’s note). But there, it will not be possible, ”concludes Ferdinand, who would like to do better than in 2021 on the France track. He then finished 4th in his category.
BIO EXPRESS
15 years old. Born December 10, 2006 in Coudray. 1.75m, 60kg. Club : CS Mainvilliers (since 2014).
Profile : road/track.
His main victories: Droué (pupil 2016, minimal 2019), Sea (2020), Vierzon (cadet 2021).
This season. Road : championship of Eure-et-Loir (Houx), Lèves, Béthonvilliers, La Selle-sur-le-Bied (Loiret), La Chapelle-Saint-Aubin, Parigné-l’Evêque (Sarthe).
Piste : Le Neubourg (speed and points race), Laval, Le Mans (omnium), Trois Heures de Limoges, Carrefour Market Trophy (Bourges).
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David Berthelem
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