The Frenchman, who finished 4th in the Giro Next Gen, joins the Pro ranks as of now.
20.07.2024
"I am really excited to being pro," said Mathys. "Since starting cycling in 2020, my goal has been to make this sport my profession and I am proud I could make it. With Tudor Pro Cycling, I found the right environment to develop step by step. Now, I still want to perform at two U23 races: Tour d'Alsace and Tour de l’Avenir, before taking on new challenges.”
For his coach Sebastien Deckert, it is the logical next step in a long-term plan: "Mathys has developed on a physical technical and tactical level. He has already done a mix of Pro and Devo racing that we will also continue till the end of the year. He also took part in his first altitude training camp with the pros this July." Deckert is convinced of Mathys' potential: "We have a long-term plan with him. We do not know how far we can get with Mathys, but we can approach it step by step.The ‘Swiss Human Performance,’ what Tudor Pro Cycling stands for, is very relevant to him. It is fantastic to work with talents like him."
Who Is Mathy Rondel?
The Frenchman is young to cycling. He only started practicing the sport four years ago, at 17. However, Mathys was already used to wearing a race suit and a helmet. He was also used to being fast. Since he was a kid, he had been following his father’s footprints and practiced in line and ice speed skating, getting strong results and being part of the French National Team.
Despite great performances, he slowly got tired of skating and eventually decided to start cycling at a competitive level instead. He already rode his bike as a preparation for skating, and fell in love with it ride after ride: “While skating, I was always in a loop, indoors or outdoors, while cycling gave me the possibility to ride to new places and being surrounded by nature.” 2020 was meant to be his first year in competitive cycling but Covid hit and he couldn’t race as much as he planned to.. 2021 saw him taking part in some more raceswhich granted him a spot in VC Pays de Loudéac (a National 1 Amateur Team in Brittany) in 2022, for his first year in the U23 category.
It is there that, he was noticed by Boris Zimine, now Head of Tudor Pro Cycling U23, and was offered to be part of the Team from 2023. Since starting cycling, Mathys’ goal was to turn pro and he found in Tudor the right environment to develop. Mathys was quickly charmed by the project and gavehis word to the team for the following years. With his future secured, he wanted to show that he deserved the team’s trust, and got his first siginificant results at Ronde de l’Isard: a Top-5 in all mountain stages,a final 7th in GC and 2nd in the Mountain Classification. Very impressive for a young rider who had raced for the first time two years earlier.
This performance generated contacts with other teams, but his word to Tudor was stronger. So Mathys was flying the Tudor shield in 2023 and quickly renewed his commitment with the team until 2027. He signeda 5-year contract focused on his personal development, with an eventual promotion to the pro team.
While the first part of his 2023 season was all about supporting the team and gaining experience in races like Giro Next Gen, the second part saw him being a protagonist of important races such as Tour de l’Alsace (2nd in the Queen Stage and GC) and Tour de l’Avenir (Top-10 in all mountain stages and 6th in GC). He started 2024 with Giro Next Gen as the main big goal for the first part of the season. Mathys got ready for it with a mix of U23 and pro races.He supported Michael Storer at Tour of the Alps and ended 11th in GC himself, and won a stage and the General Classification at Orlen Nations Grand Prix, Nations Cup with the French National Team.
At Giro Next Gen, he showed character and leadership but that was not enough. Some mistakes cost him the GC podium.Despite the initial disappointment, Mathys immediately switched to his next goal: the Tour de l’Avenir in August. To prepare for that, he spent three weeks in altitude with the pro team, and will be at the start of Tour of Alsace, a race which gave him some pride last year.
Between races, Mathys loves training in the mountains and never misses a chance to stop at the top to take selfies with animals: cows, sheep and donkeys. He also loves spending time with his animals: he owns a dog, a pig and chickens. His dream is to grow his little farm into a bigger one with some more animals: “a donkey, cows, goats and maybe an alpaca too.”
To accommodate the expanding farm, Mathys is now building one in the Pyrenees where he recently moved from his native city, Le Mans in Sarthe.. The French youngster made some renovation in the past and learns new tricks daily on Youtube. His family will join him there, including his younger brother and sister, both cyclists: Lucas (19) and Lea (17). His animals will of course move there too.
In the Pyrenees, he’ll have the chance to train surrounded by what he loves the most: the mountains and nature. There, he will train for the races of his dreams: the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.
Photos: Filip Bezdek, Andrzej and Mathys Rondel