Joris Daudet | Lockdown …

25 May 2020

Joris Daudet | Lockdown …

25 May 2020

It’s been a turbulent 2020 in the BMX World but maybe even more so for France’s Joris Daudet. After an injury laden second half of 2019 that began with the horrific crash going into Zolder’s second turn during the World Championships Final, the Chase rider was just beginning to ease back into some racing form with winter training down in Australia. Then came a podium at the USA BMX Winter Nationals in Phoenix. Then came the dreaded Coronavirus which decimated the BMX calendar. ‘It was a tough 2019 year for me, but it is what it is. I was feeling better and better on my bike before Covid19 came in so I’m excited to be back on track and back to my 100%. I think physically I’m not far to be where I want, now I need to ride my bike!’, Joris told us recently. ‘It has been hard for sure not being able to train and ride like we are used to. But I adapted my training with what I could do and I was able to mix things up a little, so it’s been nice. But I can’t wait to be back at the track for sure, when it’s all safe to do so.’

It’s not been all bad during the restrictive covid19 lockdown, Joris did get to ride a pit bike through his kitchen, although we all thought he was going up those stairs. And then there was the ‘Chase Quarantine Challenges’. Connor and Joris pitted against each other in ever increasing technical challenges, like swapping out your ODI grips … Joris has been crushing it, ‘Haha, It’s been fun to do these Chase challenges for sure. Fortunately for me there were all about mechanics but I’m excited to work on another one soon hopefully’. We’re not sure Connor is so enthused … But the question we’d like answered, as eluded to by Joris earlier, is, when will we see the return of Pro racing, especially on the international calendar … and when will it be deemed safe to do so? For a large portion of the BMX community out there it may be an easier question to answer than for the likes of Joris, who has a young family to consider. ‘It will be a tough decision to take for sure. I don’t want to get my family and my son sick in case I travel and get the virus. So, it will be a decision I’ll take with my wife and family and see if it’s safe to race and travel again. I for sure have some concern about racing again, bringing lots of people back together is the worst for the virus, so it’s going to be hard decision for USA BMX as well.’

Joris Daudet Music City 2019 - Kirby Cronk

As of today, USA BMX have added a handful of ‘Bounce Back Nationals’ to the calendar in States allowing large gatherings, but none of which include a full Pro schedule, but rather a ‘Pro Open’. Joris would like to see some changes to facilitate Pro racing in the post Coronavirus landscape, ‘Maybe we could switch things a little after Covid-19 and see less people at events or just with Elite riders … Time trials could be back as well. I think there is a lot of possibilities to get BMX back on track and being safe at the same time. It’s going to take some changes for sure if we want to be racing again anytime soon.’

The most high-profile victim of the decimated calendar was of course the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, now scheduled to take place one year later during July and August 2021, if all goes to the IOC’s plan. The delay could well play into the hands of the Frenchman, providing some extra time to get back to ultimate race sharpness, but Joris says he was ready to go, ‘I believe it was the best decision for everyone’s safety . Not easy for any athlete to hear about the postponement but we will all be back soon on track and I’ll be ready for Tokyo in 2021 like I would have been for 2020, I have no doubt about it.’ A fit Joris Daudet would of course be at the top of any national coach’s Olympic selection list but France, probably more than any other nation, has a wealth of world class talent to choose from in Elite Men’s BMX, so being one of the selected three, or probable three, will be no easy task. ‘We have our own ranking inside the French team which helps a lot knowing who’s got the best results the last few years. After that it will be all in the manager’s hands to pick whoever he thinks has the best chances. It’s going to be a tough call for sure, we are a few that can go right now and be able to perform there’.

As is now tradition in the BMX world, we can expect both Joris and Connor to arrive in Tokyo next summer with some highly customized carbon. If the bikes don’t already exist in some hidden corner of Chase Bicycles HQ then they are almost certainly in the production process, although Joris is playing coy, ‘We haven’t discussed any design yet for the Tokyo frame. But I’m sure it will be pretty cool with the French color for me and USA color for Connor. Always a special bike for this event. We don’t have a lot of input into the design. We are lucky to have people that know what they are doing so we trust them 100% into the conception of the bike.’ With the Covid19 lockdown easing, and tracks slowly opening, especially in the US, it’s at least conceivable that BMX will return to some normality in the foreseeable future. But, in the long term, is Joris thinking past Tokyo … it seems he wants to go out on a high, in front of his home fans, ‘well with Tokyo being postponed one year, why not going all the way to Paris 2024 and finish in front of the home crowd, that would be a pretty amazing to finish my career …’