Discipline Road and track 2015 Velocio-SRAM 2014 Specialized–lululemon | 2013 Bourgogne-Pro Dialog Role Rider Name Elise Delzenne | |
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Born 28 January 1989 (age 35)
France ( 1989-01-28 ) | ||
Loren Rowney's Aviva Women's Tour of Britain Vox Diary
Élise Delzenne (born 28 January 1989) is a French professional racing cyclist who competes on the road and the track. As of 2014, she rides for the team Velocio-SRAM. She was the 2013 French National Road Race Champion.
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Early life and junior cycling career
Delzenne grew up in Nomain, in the Nord of France, near the border with Belgium. Her parents Philippe and Sylvie, née Dassonneville, are both touring cyclists.
When she was ten years old, Delzenne started cycling in the club of Orchies. In particular, she took part in many Semaines fédérale internationale de cyclotourisme, a massive touring cycling event. At the age of 12, she began to compete in the Union française des œuvres laïques d'éducation physique (UFOLEP).
In 2004, she started racing in the main federation, the Fédération française de cyclisme, as a member of the club "Entente sportive des enfants de Gayant de Douai" (ESEG Douai). She finished second in the departmental championship at Anor. Lucien Cloet, regional selector at the time, recognized her potential and started a collaboration with her.
The next year, she won the silver medal at the French championship in the novice category of the points race, and finished eleventh in the French road race championship at Pont-du-Fossé. In 2006, she was selected for the European Road Championships at Valkenburg.
In 2007, she joined a second club with the team Wasquehal juniors, where she was trained by Hervé Boussard. In June the same year, she participated in the French track championship at Hyères, where she won the points race. and finished fourth in the pursuit. She was disappointed by this last result On the road, she won the national title at Mussidan. A few days before, she also finished fourth in the national time trial.
After obtaining her baccalauréat in science, she decided to stop competing in order to study. Two years later, she earned her Brevet de Technicien Supérieur (BTS) of engineering assistance in Armentières. She then joined the textile engineer high school ENSAIT in 2009. She followed a sandwich course there and worked for the company PGI Nordlys in Bailleul. She nevertheless remained an athlete and ran the Route du Louvre marathon in 2010.
Amateur cycling career
At the end of 2011, Élise Delzenne decided to return to competitive cycling. She joined the club of la Madeleine, where she was trained by Lucien Cloet. She obtained good results in Belgium during the seasons. She also participated in the national championship at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, almost at home, but had little success. She crashed during the time trial to finish eighteenth. On the road, she crashed again, this time 1 km from the finish and before the sprint for the third place. On the track, she finished third in the national Omnium at Bordeaux and then fourth in the points race and fifth in the pursuit at Hyères, all for the national championship.
At the end of the year, she graduated and start working for a laundry in Soissons as a quality manager.
2013: Bourgogne Pro-Dialog
2013 was a good year for Delzenne. She joined the UCI women's team Bourgogne-Pro Dialog. As in the previous year, she finished third in the national Omnium which took place in Roubaix. She had good results during the French cup at Pujols, in Ain or at Plumelec. She also participated in Gent–Wevelgem and finished nineteenth. At the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs, a top-level international women's stage race, she finished seventh in the general classification. She was selected by the national team for the Giro del Trentino. The high point of the season was however her road national title at Lannilis. There she won the sprint of the leading group. She finished fourth in the national time trial a few days before. The end of the year brought fewer results but allowed Delzenne to collect experience: she participated in the Lotto Belisol Belgium Tour, the GP de Plouay, the Giro della Toscana and the World Championship road race in Florence. At the beginning of October, she announced that she would be joining the Specialized-lululemon team the following year.
2014 : Specialized-Lululemon
Her first race in her new team was the Tour of Qatar. On 13 March, she took part in Molecaten Drentse 8, where her teammate Chantal Blaak won. She herself finished in twelfth place. At the GP Cornaredo, she made a break but without success. Victim of a puncture, she didn't finish the race, in which her teammate Tiffany Cromwell finished second.
She participated in the Ronde van Drenthe race of the UCI Women's Road World Cup, in Le Samyn des Dames, Gent–Wevelgem and the GP Dottignies. At the beginning of May, she finished fourth in the Ronde van Overijssel, where Lisa Brennauer from her team won. Afterwards, she participated in The Women's Tour in England. During the first stage, she made a solo escape for 25 km before being caught by the field one kilometre from the finish. She received the combativity prize for the stage. She was then fifth in the general classification Her work as teammate did not allow her to keep this place in a race where all stages finished by a bunch sprint.
At the national championship, Delzenne finished, once again, in fourth place in the time trial, one second behind Aude Biannic. In the road race, she was unable to follow the break and finished second in the bunch and tenth overall. After the race she admitted having committed tactical errors.
In July, she participated in the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen and helped her teammates Evelyn Stevens and Lisa Brennauer to finish respectively first and third in the general classification. She finished sixth in the Erondegemse Pijl and then won another small race in Belgium. She was selected for La Route de France and for the Tour de l'Ardèche by the national team. In the latter race, she finished fourth in the third stage and seventh in the last stage. She participated in the World championship and helped Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to victory.
At the national track championship, she took silver medals in the pursuit and the scratch race. She won the bronze medal in the team pursuit with her regional team. On the Sunday, she won the points race.
After the winter break, she competed at the International Belgian Open and won the points race. She also finished second in the pursuit.
2015: Velocio-SRAM
In 2015, her team changed its name to Velocio-SRAM Pro Cycling. She concentrated on the track at the beginning of the season and participated in the Cali round of the World Cup. In February, she was selected for the track world championships in individual and team pursuit, as also for the points race. She finished fourth in this last race and ninth in the individual pursuit. Her feelings were mixed after this competition.