There are encounters that feel like a simple exchange. And then there are those where you leave the table—or, in our case, a long conversation—with the feeling of having traveled. Not in kilometers, but in ideas, images, emotions. Jean-Yves Couput is one of those. He is a man who has not only traveled the routes of Europe, but who observed, decoded, and interpreted them. A former cyclist turned strategist, a cycling enthusiast who learned to see it as a language, an ecosystem, a mirror of society. When he speaks, we hear as much the former sprinter as the philosopher, the marketer as the poet.
By Jeff Tatard – Photos: DR
Cycling as an antidote
It all starts with a piece of paperA simple school medical visit, barely eight years old, and this sentence scribbled like a verdict: " Tendency to be overweight… » No long explanations. No psychology. Just those words that sting. His grandfather, then retired, didn't bother with speeches. He enrolled Jean-Yves in a cycling club.
And then, the trigger: the fifty-kilometer Sunday outings, the square handlebar bag, the Michelin map slipped under the transparent plastic. Raw freedom, the horizon opening up. « It's like a virus that we never try to cure. " he confides to me. And already, the fascination for the stories that this sport carries: the epics, the failures, the heroes.
The 80s: Epic, Baroque, Human
When we talk about his competitive debut, Jean-Yves chooses three words: Epic, Baroque, Human. Epic, because it was the time when we won " to the physical ". The champions had square jaws, they gritted their teeth. Baroque, with jerseys saturated with sponsors, helmets with sausages reserved for the flahutes, steel frames with sculpted joints like ancient temples. Human, because nothing brings people together more than suffering.taged.
And he refuses to give in to the cliché of " it was better before ": " I will never say that it was better before, nor that it is better today. "For him, every era has its truth.
Sciences Po: thinking about sport differently
Jean-Yves studied at Sciences Po. A course that changed his view of cycling. : " It taught me to think about sport beyond sport. » He talks about the bike as a « living system " where federations, organizers, broadcasters, and teams intersect. A space where technology is just one piece of a vast political, economic, and cultural puzzle.
The purity of effort
The former sprinter has a precise memory of the quintessence of the effort : " The last 250 meters are technical perfection in the mastery of balance, shoulder-to-shoulder contact, wheel to the millimeter. "There, every gesture counts. There, when everything aligns, " you raise your arms ».
From instinct to data
What has changed the most? The data. » Today, we no longer ride with our legs and instinct alone, but with sensors., calibrated plans, a surgical science of nutrition and effort. Yet, Jean-Yves smiles: " As early as 1981, I was already using a heart rate monitor and keeping a precise training log. »
What will never change, according to him, is the truth of the route : " At some point, there is no more technology. You find yourself facing yourself, just you, your body and your mind... The ceiling is always that of suffering. »
The relationship to the body
When we talk about the evolution of the relationship with the body, it becomes serious. « High-level sport is incompatible with long-term good health. "He thinks about the extreme constraints of the Grand Tours, the weight/power ratios that border on obsession. What revolts him are the imposed standards, the dictatorship of minimum weight." This must remain a personal choice, supervised by a medical team. »
Think about the experience before the product
After his career, Jean-Yves was a key player in community marketing at Salomon. A school of listening. He draws a lesson from it that cycling could learn: " Start from the needs of the practitioners, their frustrations, and only then design the product. »
He is amused by the industry's promises: " We're selling 7% aerodynamic gains on a frame that accounts for 10% of the drag. That's 0,7%... Seriously? "And he decides: " Make us maintenance-free, comfortable, safe… and beautiful bikes! »
A story above all
Le storytelling ? Yes, but not just any old way. We don't create stories to sell, we sell because we have a story to tell. » Otherwise, it's a railway novel. For him, history must carry a truth, an emotion.It is she who begins to bring the brand to life in people's minds.
The poetry of wood
We sometimes come across Jean-Yves on a wooden bikeA unique object, crafted by a craftsman in more than 250 hours. Wood is a living material. Something inexplicable is happening. » Paradox: this bike, a kilo heavier than a high-end carbon frame, gave him some of his best times on climbs.
Experimentation and Gravel
Experimentation still exists, he says, citing the Concours de Machines where artisans are brimming with ingenuity. And then there is Gravel: " It's cycling without borders, without limits, without preconceptions. » A free alchemy that mixes genres and reinvents the practice.
Cycling as a living culture
Jean-Yves does not see the bicycle as a permanent revolution, but as a constant evolution.Not only as a sport, but as a tool for mobility, as a culture, as an economy.
His dream? A lifelong practice, “from balance bikes to electric bikes.”
And he recalls that the bicycle has already been a powerful social lever: “ He participated in the liberation of women, giving them autonomy and independence long before society granted them these rights. »
Hidden Pleasures and Life Lessons
His hidden pleasure? Going downhill fast, pushing back on the brakes, playing with the trajectory. What has cycling taught him? That you can go further than you imagine, and that no " top Nor " socks " is not definitive. " On a bike, as in life, moments of depression give way to euphoria a few minutes later. »
If he had to give advice to a young person: “ Only consistency in effort and pleasure pays off. »
Leaving Jean-Yves Couput, we are left with the impression of having spoken as much about cycling as about life.Man doesn't just pedal: he observes, analyzes, and transmits. He speaks of suffering and beauty, marketing and freedom, wood and carbon, technology and instinct.
And perhaps this is its greatest lesson: understand that cycling is not just a sport. It is a mirror. And what it reflects is always ourselves..
