Next year, next chance

It is now official and does not make me happy. My season ended the 19th of July, when my head hit the ground of Samoëns during the fourth round of the Enduro World Series. I indeed won’t be able to race the two last rounds of the World Series, in Spain and Italy. Traumatic brain injury consequences are hard to predict, and my case is apparently not an easy one. I will probably need a few more weeks before I can start rehabilitation and thus riding a bike will have to wait a bit longer. The past two months have perhaps been the hardest to deal with in my career. To go from a life at 100km/h to a total rest, both physical and cognitive, is quite a shock. Impatience, doubts, a feeling of weakness and helplessness and deception - when week after week no major improvement can be felt – add themselves to the physical symptoms. How to face an enemy you can’t fight or escape from? The decision to put an end to my season however slightly changes the situation. Days are still very long and sometimes pretty rough and I miss riding a bike so much that it’s almost a physical pain. But I now have several months to recover properly and to get ready for 2016. This injury obliged me to give my body a rest – probably needed, after years of racing. My job is now to transform all this bad time in an opportunity to come back rested, better prepared and thus faster next year! I would like once again to thank all my sponsors. Even if it was a short one, my season was full a great adventure and crazy rides!! Massive thanks also to my teammates François, Flo and Kerstin and to my mechanic Adrien for the good moments and the countless laughs and to Mélanie and Guillaume at BMC for they logistic and moral support. Thanks to the BMC R&D group for their understanding and patience, as well as to all the friends who supported me in the past weeks. A huge "thank you" to Tracy who had the courage to take care of my training plan and had the hard job to deal with my sometimes boundless energy and to Mattia, my mental coach, who gave me the chance to improve even in the hardest moments. And finally, a massive hug to my whole family… the reasons are too many to be written here! I will keep you updated during the off-season. See you soon!