Although she only started cycling at the age of 13, Mathilde Gros has established herself as one of the best track cyclists in the world. Biography, awards, basketball, find out who the Frenchwoman is.
Mathilde Gros was born on April 27, 1999 in Sainte-Catherine (Pas-de-Calais), in the North of France, but it was in the Bouches-du-Rhône that she grew up with her family, in the village of Cornillon-Confoux, north of Marseille. Little Mathilde was not really attracted to cycling in her childhood, but rather to basketball. It was at the age of 4 that she started playing it and it was in this sport that she showed interesting skills. Passionate, she even joined the Aix-en-Provence Espoirs center at the age of 13.
A few months later, she was spotted by the… French Cycling Federation after a harmless test on an indoor bike at the Espoirs pole. In 2014, she joined the Espoirs cycling pole in Île-de-France. A transition to track cycling that was far from harmless and even painful for Mathilde Gros, who gave up on her dreams of becoming a professional basketball player. But she very quickly proved that this transition was promising, with her first titles as French and European champion in the youth category. In 2016, two years after her track debut, Mathilde Gros was upgraded to the senior category. The medals piled up, but a fall and an acromioclavicular dislocation put a slight brake on this linear progression.
Despite two European keirin champion titles in 2018 and 2019, Mathilde Gros has not managed to compete with the best international runners. Having returned empty-handed from the Tokyo Olympics, the Frenchwoman experienced a new disappointment a few months later at the World Championships in Roubaix. “In recent years, I’ve gotten used to getting slapped in the face,” she admitted after these failed world championships. It’s up to me to have a breakthrough.” A breakthrough that she has experienced since, since she was crowned world speed champion in 2022.
What is Mathilde Gros’s track record?
Mathilde Gros has a very fine track record, at only 25 years old. Her greatest title is obviously this title of individual speed world champion obtained in 2022. In this discipline, she has also been five times French champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023). In keirin, she was European champion (2018 and 2019) and French champion six times (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023). Not to mention her four titles of French champion of the 500 meters (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2023).
How did Mathilde Gros go from basketball to track cycling?
It was almost by chance that Mathilde Gros became a professional cyclist. Far from being a cycling fan, it was in 2014, at the Aix-en-Provence Espoirs basketball center, that she tried out a prototype indoor bike, equipped with a power sensor, for fun. Except that she stole the show and the physical trainer at the French BMX center couldn’t believe his eyes. He was the one who immediately called the French Cycling Federation, convinced that he had spotted a gem. Ten years after this successful test, it is clear that he was not mistaken and that Mathilde Gros did well to get on this indoor bike.