- At 40, Julien Lizeroux always takes as much pleasure to find himself in the starting gate of the World Cup slaloms.
- Dean of the circuit, obviously, the quadra does not see the time passing.
- Before the Chamonix slalom on Saturday, he tells "20 Minutes" what pushes him to continue and how he sees the next steps.
"Grandpa" is fine. Better and better, even. Julien Lizeroux, 40, always takes as much pleasure to find himself in the starting gate of a World Cup slalom. At the end of January, he celebrated his 20 years of career during the Kitzbühel-Schladming series. In Austria, in front of the craziest crowd on the circuit - who also warmly applauded him - he achieved his two best performances of the season (15th then 12th). A good omen before running at home on the Chamonix track on Saturday.
Severely injured in the knee while in the top three in his discipline in 2011, the Savoyard took two years to return, after two operations and "having thought 1,000 times" to hang up. Seven years later, he is still there and has "no idea" when he will stop. He tells 20 Minutes what pushes him to continue, how he sees the future and… what it feels like to run with the son of a friend who arrived on the circuit at the same time as him, at the very beginning of the 2000s.
We are leaving Schladming, where you have made a good place in an atmosphere of madness. Does it feel good after a difficult start to the season?
It is true that the Austrian races have done me a lot of good. It had been complicated for me since the start of the season, and I was not skiing free. In Austria, I just wanted to make the most of these races and the results were very satisfactory. Even more in Schladming, where I took great pleasure on the skis, in a festive atmosphere always very appreciated. It was too good !
How do you approach the Chamonix slalom? Isn't it time to make a top 10 again?
I will try to approach it in the same way as Kitzbühel and Schladming, even if the profile and the conditions will be completely different. The objective is not accounting, but rather to continue my momentum, to ski with the banana, and to try to go even faster. By also using public support and fervor.
How would you describe your feelings of the moment? You tell yourself that they give you reason not to have given up?
As much on Levi [released during the first run], Val d'Isère [same thing] or Madonna di Campiglio [not qualified for the second run], I didn't feel too comfortable on skis, as much Zagreb, Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbuhel and Schladming, I had fun. I started to let go and trust myself on the skis. And the results were felt right away. I have to deal with the years. I have less explosiveness, less physical freshness, but still as much desire. In any case, I don't look too far back, and from the moment I had decided to continue last spring, I knew it was the right decision. My career is over, I have nothing to prove to myself, I just want to continue being able to enjoy these moments that I love. And then it's my trademark not to let go of anything, so it's not today and I'm going to start.
The immediate objective there is to return to the top 30 of the World Cup slalom ranking [he is currently 34th] to find good bibs and make life a little easier to get results?
I have never set accounting goals in my career. My only goal is to display green at the bottom of the second run, with a big smile. Whether I leave 29 or 34, it doesn't change much, what matters is the classification at the bottom.
The ultimate dream would be a new World Cup podium?
I'm pretty down to earth. Dreaming does not make you ski quickly and does not bring results. Train hard, push your limits, have fun, yes. So that's what I try to do every day. For the rest, I don't waste too much energy with that.
If the end of the season is good, will you leave for another year or is it still too far to think about it? Do you see yourself pushing to the Worlds next year, or even to the Olympics in two years?
Everything in its time. It's been since the 2013-2014 season that I leave for a season without planning for the future. In fact, I don't even know how to plan for tomorrow morning. So I take advantage every day and I will take stock at the end of the season. Alone first, then with my family, my friends, my coaches, my teammates, to consider the next step. One morning, I will get up and decide to stop. It could be next week, this summer, next winter, in two years. Really, I have no idea.
How are you living things right now? You are the official “grandpa” of the circuit, what do the other skiers tell you? Are they admiring, indifferent?
It is true that I am told a lot about my age, but at the same time it is a bit logical and it does not bother me at all, quite the contrary. I found the idea of running the World Cup fun at 40, and as I try to take good care of my body, it makes it pretty good. I receive a lot of very nice testimonials from other runners and coaches and it gives me energy. Which I need, by the way. I get along with 99% of the people on the circuit, we are a big family and that is also what I like, and which pushes me to continue. Overall, there aren't many people who are mean to me (laughs).
And within the France team? In a report published recently, we saw French skiers define you as the most comfortable in the group, by far ... What are the things that make you feel good, make you want to continue?
Our French team, our slalom group, these are the two things that I really like and which reinforce my idea of being on skis. The atmosphere is great between the different generations, we help each other and we stick together. The coaches are scrambling to find us the best training conditions every day. And I love being able to hug them when we do great shopping. It is also the best reward after all these hours of hard work. So yes, it is all these things that make me want to continue.
When we see the arrival in the group of the son of a friend with whom we have skied [Steven Amiez, son of Sébastien, Olympic medalist in 2002], it must be weird, I suppose?
What is funny is that in mid-January, my friends started to connect me by asking me if I had already raced with a father and his son in the World Cup. And the week after Steven was selected to come with us, when I started running 20 years ago with his dad. It's a pretty cool wink. But it's not weird, no, I find it rather funny. I start running with young people who were not even born when I started in the World Cup and, despite this difference, we get along very well and we are motivated by the same things. Maybe that means I'm still super young in my head, and that's pretty cool.
How do you see the emergence of Clément Noël? Does it amaze you, help you in your desire to stay competitive, too?
At his level and with what he has been doing for three seasons now, it is no longer emergence, he is almost the boss. Yes, I am amazed and above all very happy for him because it is deserved. More than his level on skis and his results, what I remember is that he is a great guy, nice, sociable, respectful, affordable and I find it really good for French skiing and sport than guys of his temper are in the spotlight. He is an exemplary person for young people and I hope that he arouses vocations in young people. It is a real asset for us to have him in our group, because it is easy to calibrate in training, we know that he plays ahead in all races and therefore where we are. After that, it's not easy to take seconds in your teeth every day, but you're starting to get used to it (laughs).
In the end, do you feel like you are making up for lost years with injuries now, or do you not see things like that?
Oh no, not at all ! My background is what it is, and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. I don't live in the past. I have no regrets. And I never had one. I have always used my mistakes, my difficult times, injuries, bad results to question myself, to return to training with the knife between my teeth and to smile to try to raise my level and not not reproduce these errors. And all it takes is a good result to tell yourself that it was really worth it. Even today, I trained hard this summer, my start to the season was difficult, but just to have lived this evening in Schladming, the game was really worth the candle.
Schladming 2000 VS Schladming 2020
Both 📷 by Agence ZOOM pic.twitter.com/Eg8zrPg7hQ
Even so, you were forced to stop two years when you were on top ... You have no resentment over that?
No bitterness, no regret. I always say that in life, you get what you deserve. I ate my black bread, I pulled a lot on the machine and I paid for it. But above all, I am very proud of the road we have traveled, of having been able to push my limits and of having been able to rediscover the path to the World Cups. It really was not won. So I simply take advantage of it. In life, there are no problems, there are only solutions.
You posted on Twitter a photo of yourself in Schladming in 2000 and 2020… What is the feeling that dominates, ultimately, when you realize that you've been there for 20 years? Surprise, pride, happiness?
A little of all that, yes. Fun, because I like sport, competition, team life. I like the life of the skier, the fact of implementing a training strategy to be efficient in winter. But yes, I am also very proud to be still there and I measure the progress made. I just want to say that I keep having fun.
- Julien lizeroux
- Interview
- Alpine skiing
- Sport