Under the cap, a purplish bruise lines his forehead. Nicolas Clément, 11, had a “glide” at the 85 CC Bourgogne Franche-Comté motocross championship last weekend, an extremely rare incident for the young Thionvillois, used to the podiums. He was barely 4 years old when, for the first time, he got on his dad’s motorcycle, and 6, for his first competition. An early vocation that made him one of the youngest competitors of this level in the Grand-Est region. Student of 5e in the mountain biking sports section at La Providence college in Thionville, Nicolas trains daily with his physical trainer, Christophe Hebting, to go the distance. “Motocross is a physically demanding sport,” notes Raphaël Clément, who is also coach and president of Motocross de Mont-Bonvillers (54).
–
50,000 km per year
Particularly at ease in jumps and on all terrain, Nicolas already has an impressive track record. Alsace Lorraine and Grand-Est champion in 2019 and 2020, 4e de la Rookie’s Cup and 2019, 10e and 1is French for the Master Kids in 2019, 2e of the Super Cross de Paris-Bercy in 2019, the Thionvillois de Volkrange, surrounded himself with Yannick Bossi, a size of the discipline (five-time champion of France, vice-champion of Europe, vice-world champion, winner of the European Nations Cup). “At this level, Nicolas is a special case in the region, we had to create a structure [la team Bossi motor sport] to support him and allow other young people to ride, ”says Raphaël Clément, who travels 50,000 km each year to accompany his son in competition. “It’s an investment for the whole family”, sums up the dad, proud of his son. After an almost blank year, health crisis obliges, 2021 will be that of the championships of France hopes or cadets with for objective “a top 10 in cadets” and “a participation in the European championships”.
–
