He's been talking about it for months, years.

Pavel Sivakov will be able to realize his wish to run under the colors of France.

The Ineos Grenadiers cyclist also admits that the current geopolitical context has played in accelerating the process.

His change of nationality was validated by the UCI on Wednesday, according to the British team.

"I had wanted to become French for some time and I had applied to the UCI (International Cycling Union), but given what is happening in Ukraine at the moment, I wanted to speed things up," said said Sivakov.

Against the invasion in Russia

Sivakov, 24, took a stand last week against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as did Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora), the other Russian rider in the world peloton, on Thursday.

“I was born in Italy and moved to France when I was one year old,” explained the runner.

“France is where I grew up and studied, where I fell in love with cycling, which led me to competition.

It's like home.

I would like to thank the UCI and the Ineos Grenadiers team for supporting me in this process”.

Paris 2024 in sight

“It would be a dream to race in Paris at the 2024 Olympic Games for France,” concluded Sivakov, who won the 2019 Tour of Poland and has already finished in the top ten of a grand tour (9th in the Giro 2019).

“As I said before, I am totally against this war and all my thoughts are with the Ukrainian people.

Like most people around the world right now, I hope for peace and a quick end to the suffering in Ukraine.”

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