Press and Media Center

Spotlight on Franky Batelier

Franky Batelier might be the fastest man in the French Army.  That’s his job outside of triathlon; an instructor in physical education for the French military.

What we know of Franky is that he’s bloody fast and a lot of fun.  He first showed up in Italy in 2007 and surprised most of us with a fine second behind Olivier Marceau but ahead of Nicolas Lebrun.  Franky followed this up later in the year by winning XTERRA Germany.

He started triathlon at the age of 16 and has always been a sports kind of guy.  Basketball, handball, volleyball, rugby, snowboarding are all part of his lifestyle.  Last year Franky was slowed by a nasty sciatica nerve problem.  Although faster than most, he simply could not get that last little bit on the run to win in 2008.

“When I started to do XTERRA races two years ago I was doing very little MTB sessions.  But I loved doing the MTB and was so happy to win in Germany”.  Last year, Batelier was part of the Sartrouville Triathlon team and was able to get to 3 XTERRA’s and finish 2nd in each race as part of a monster 28 race season.  “After Maui in 2008 I decided to focus my 2009 season on XTERRA and stop ETU cup road races and changed clubs to Rouen Triathlon; my first team when I was 18 years old”.  Maui was a great race for Franky.  He was 3rd into T2 and as one of the fastest runners was looking to improve.  But the sciatica and the Maui heat combined to put the hurt on him and he dropped far back to an eventual 15th place.  “I want to win Maui or at least be on the podium” says Batelier of his 2009 goals.  “I was able to accelerate on the run in Italy and pass Ruben.  I was the first guy to beat him and I saw how disappointed he was to finish 2nd.  I was in my best shape in a long time in Sardinia and was able to control the race.  But the story won’t stop there; I want to confirm those winnings again”.

The Czech race nearly turned into a duathlon with big floods in central and south Czech Republic.  Karel Zadak, the fast improving Czech Pro was highly motivated to win on his home turf.  “In Czech the race was totally different.  I was tired from the French Long Distance championship (he finished 4th) only 3 weeks before.  I was able to win the race over Zadak, but I was exhausted.  The muddy course was probably an advantage for me because it slowed down the tempo on the MTB.  The bike took 20 minutes longer than last year on the same course.”

So his quest for the perfect season will be tough tested in these next two weeks where the German (which he won this past weekend to make it 3 in a row) and Austrian men will want to keep the championship their own.

“After 3 wins, I’d like to continue my goal in Austria and in France for the final.  I’ll take every race like a new battle with the other guys.  If I can win every time it will increase my self confidence for Maui for sure!!!”

If he can do that, it won’t be just the French enlisted men that salute Franky Batelier.  We’ll all be saying yes SIR.