After a month in lockdown, Clément Venturini shares his daily life, his training routine, his motivation and even his cooking skills with us!
Where are you now?
I am at home in my flat in Meyzieu. It is a fairly quiet place, which is an advantage for spending this time, which may seem a bit long.
The Tour de France has been postponed, and the UCI has announced a new schedule. How did you react to this news?
This allows us to plan ahead and set key dates. After that, there are major races, selection races. It is still difficult to plan ahead at that level within the team. But it gives us a guiding principle and gives meaning to our daily training sessions.
How do you manage to stay motivated to train?
At the very beginning, I took up sport like everyone else for my fitness and well-being. I felt more like a professional athlete than a cyclist. Now that we have a date for the restart, it's motivating and allows us to see things differently.
Afterwards, it's hard to accept when you're rubbish. You need to be at a decent level. That's what motivates you to train properly and do some intense workouts.
Personally, I find time on the home trainer very long, so having exercises to do is all the more enjoyable.
These days, there is a lot of talk about mental freshness rather than maintaining physical fitness. What do you think about that?
That's for sure. It won't be the person who has done the most during this difficult period who will be the strongest afterwards. I'm convinced of that. You really have to listen to yourself, listen to your needs.
Those who reluctantly force themselves to attend sessions will pay for it later. On the other hand, it is impossible to do nothing either.
We've discovered your talents in the kitchen. Is cooking a passion of yours?
Not really. I take the opportunity to cook. I've always loved good food. I've got stuck in and enjoy making little recipes every day with good ingredients.
Do you have a message to convey?
It's a bit of a cliché now, but we must set an example and follow the guidelines. And for AG2R fans, please continue to cheer us on from a distance for now and from the roadside when possible. I have no doubt that the encouragement will be even stronger after this difficult period and will continue to bring us even closer together.
