Comic book history teaches us that a good superhero is only as good as an adversary. It doesn't necessarily have to be the villain of the moment, but it has to be on par with him. If we try to read the history of great athletes, the same thing happens, and Filippo Ganna is no exception to this rule. His fierce adversary, Corentin Ermenault, not only has the many facets of a true character, but is also the son of another historical adversary..
We need to go back to the end of the last century and to the parable of Andrew Collinelli, the one who won the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He did it by beating Philippe Ermenault, which came after winning gold in the team pursuit. Compared to today, however, we must say that the roles were somewhat reversed: Ermenault was the established champion, Collinelli the one who wanted to oust him from the throne. And he succeeded on the most important occasion. Then, especially during the World Cup, their stories became intertwined with victories and defeats on both sides. As is only right when talking about superheroes and super-adversaries...
Footballer for 10 years
Philippe, to tell the truth, didn't want Corentin to follow in his footsteps: "He forbade me from riding a bike before I was 14," says the 26-year-old from Amiens. "For 10 years he made me play football to vent my passion for sport. He said that you get tired of cycling quickly, or that if you win a lot when you're young, then you move up a category and you might not win anymore, so you get demoralized and give up.. He wanted me to avoid all these disappointments."
Corentin Ermenault, however, followed his calling and made giant leaps forward, but he also had to deal with those same disappointments. In today's cycling, it's truly difficult to "make a living" solely on the track: Corentin immediately showed that the blood of a predestined champion flows in his veins and even in the era of Filippo Vincitutto he has earned his spaces, with a world bronze in 2017 and above all 4 European golds, two of which in the individual pursuit, in 2016 and 2019. He dedicated himself to the road, in 2019 he joined Team Wiggins and the following year Vital Concept for two seasons, but he never found his niche.
"Pros aren't for me..."
«I didn't like it in the pros, I didn't love that world, that being regimented in strategies, training and assembly line schedules.For me, cycling is something else, it must always have that streak of wildness that is part of my life, I am a bit outside the box and I don't find myself in this cycling, I am faithful to my motto: "Be serious but don't take yourself too seriously."That world disgusted me, so much so that in 2020, also due to the lockdown, I didn't even want to see the bike."
His cycling career seemed to be over, but as in any story (even a comic book one) there's always a twist, which in his case takes the form of a phone call. On the other end is the French Cycling Federation, and Corentin receives a truly unexpected proposal: start running again for the Tokyo Olympics, but not for what he thinksIn fact, they asked him to try to guide Alexandre Lloveras, a visually impaired athlete in the tandem pursuit for the Paralympic Games.
"At first, I felt caught off guard by that proposal," Ermenault says, "and I said no, but they gave me the right motivation, so I thought better of it and got back on the bike."
Rudder towards Paris 2024
Final result: gold in Tokyo for both. «That victory was something fundamental for me, something magical, something to share with a great person. I got the urge again, probably without that idea I would never have started again, but now I'm here dreaming Paris 2024».
Competing in Paris, leading the quartet to the Olympic roof like his father did 28 years earlier. It was immediately clear that with him in the team the French quartet is going very well. and the same blue city Marco Villa He highlighted the French team as one of the great innovations on the world stage, already reshaped after last year's Italian successes. For Ermenault, it's a great opportunity: "I was pleasantly surprised by the involvement for Paris 2024, I find everything well structured and professionalWe're working on a project, but with free expression. I like where we're going."
…But watch out for his horn!
Corentin has thus returned to full speed. In Glasgow, in the first World Cup (where Ganna incidentally only competed in the team pursuit), he won both the quartet race and the individual pursuit, also setting a new French record of 4:05.644. To pursue his dream, he has also returned to road racing.
Now Ermenault is part of theAVC Aix-en-Provence and competes mainly in national races valid for the Coupe de France. He also returned to compete in stage races, in particular the Tour du Loir et Cher even taking third place in the final stage. But when asked what he felt, Corentin gave one of his surprising answers: "200 kilometers isn't for me. As the kilometers go by, I get worse and worse because I can't concentrate very much. I get bored...». On his bike he proudly displayed a timeless instrument: a pump-type horn, with which he occasionally woke up his teammates and opponents: can you imagine Ganna in the middle of the Tour group honking the horn?
