Pierre Rolland, from the panache of the summits to the school of ultra

On the phone, her voice smiles. She goes quickly, she digresses, she returns to the heart of the matter as one suddenly stands up on the pedals: " I've always been a rider ready to attack, offensive, with panache. That doesn't fade. » Pierre Rolland no longer has a WorldTour bib, but he keeps the same software: the desire to go, to dare, to learn. His playing field has changed — TV sets, marathons, independent events — but not his way of experiencing the effort. And his motto is contained in four words that have followed him to the networks: " Attack by Pierre Rolland " He even trademarked it, out of pragmatism as much as malice. Panache, reinvented.

By Jeff Tatard – Photos: ©Bikingman, DR

The beginnings: a cyclocross bike and tires the cheapest »

Origin is not a career planA college friend, a member of a club route, takes him on a Wednesday: “ Come see " The coach lends a cyclo-cross bike. Pierre tries mountain biking, then a few cross-country races, then route — with tires first price mounted on this same bike. No cycling lineage, no predetermined destiny: tinkering, curiosity, pleasure. Very quickly, however, the codes are imprinted: the joy of progress, the discipline of the collective, the obvious sensations. At 14-15 years old, he knows above all that he likes it and that he wants to transform the desire into work. If the 15-year-old Pierre listened to him today, what would he say to him? Nothing more than what he did: be brave, train, move forward. »

The Pro Years: Highs, Lows, and an Offensive Signature

We could list the achievements, recall Alpe d'Huez, the breakaways that make you get up off the couch, the great rides at the Giro. But what he remembers first is a way of experiencing the race. Attack when everything is calculating, print movement in an era of wattmeters: " I wanted to win and have fun. You don't change that temperament. »

He doesn't just have victorious refrains. Two regrets mark his memory. First, the Vuelta, " never addressed 100% ", still at the end of a post-Tour cycle: no stage won in Spain, while the terrain suited him perfectly. Then, the 2013 polka dot jersey lost the day before the Champs Élysées, a new points rule which " disadvantagetagand the adventurers " and a waltz of jerseys that leaves him wanting more. Regrets are not burdens for him: they are spurs.

As for the formula that has become a meme — " Attack by Pierre Rolland "—he has experienced it all: annoyance, winks, self-mockery. I'd rather be partnered with someone who attacks than an economical runner. » The seal is set.

Switching without switching off: the transition to commentary

Retirement comes when he could still extend " on projects that [did not] suit him "And above all, fear, new, invites itself on the descent: " It's getting faster and faster, all the time. » He decides to stop. A few hours after the announcement, La Chaîne L'Équipe calls him. Twenty days of service on the contract, four times more on arrival as the evidence is clear: Pierre is comfortable on air. He doesn't play a role: he explains.The set is not a team bus, but the mission is similar: read the race, make the invisible visible, transmit without jargon on a general channel.

He refuses to have his " paw ». He brings style: technical precision, experience as a runner and a dose of humor. - " we are not a 100% bicycle chain ". His duo with other consultants, notably with Christophe Riblon, creates a useful balance: one keeps in the muscles the sensation of the actualized effort, the other brings a precious memory. And his personal practice still today, intense and modern, feeds his analyses: this avoids, he says, " to forget that it hurts ».

The need for goals: to keep a life moving forward

Stopping the competition is like losing a metronome.For fifteen years, life moved from goal to goal: Paris–Nice, the Tour, the Classics, the Tour again. The calendar dictated everything: lifestyle, sacrifices, concentration. Afterward, the silence of the carrots can be deafening. Many experience it. Pierre found a simple safeguard: recreating desired milestones. A half-marathon, then a successful Paris marathon (better than the half-marathon, and that counts), night outings from Lyon to Geneva at 300 km, and above all the ultra: the patient and stubborn school of long distances.

He likes this double benefit: the lens restores hygiene... without constraint. " If friends call me for dinner, I go. I don't shut myself off anymore. » Training structures, but does not lock you down. And then comes the other gift of endurance: introspection. In running, it quickly reaches the flow ; by bike, he needs hundreds of kilometers. But the result is the same: we really talk to each other, far from the noise.

BikingMan 555 Morocco: learning again, at human height

Event: 500 km, 8000 m D+, less than 60 hours, around Marrakech, in autonomy. It is the BikingMan 555 Morocco, gravel format launched by BikingMan (ultracycling championship founded by Axel Carion), scheduled from September 19 to 21, 2025. It is above all the ideal laboratory for a " former of the route » who wants unlearn what he knows and relearn what he doesn't know. " The hardest part is signing uphe says. Afterwards, you respect your preparation, you make the right choices in terms of equipment and nutrition, and on the big day, you enjoy yourself. »

Except that the ultra likes to remind us that confidence is earned. At the 20th kilometer, the old habit of the paths " like at home » catches up with him: he arrives too fast in a rut, damaged rear tire, wick, CO₂, fingers stuck with resin. Nothing serious, everything to learn. I immediately said to myself: I'm going to have to ride for real, clean, and consistent. In ultra, if you wreck your equipment, you're dead. » Paradoxically, Being among the last to leave gives him a gift: meeting everyone, smiling, encouraging, taking the human measure of the caravan.

The equipment? Minimalist, almost in a spirit of defiance. Shoes of route on gravel (he had read the terrain - few portage expected), light panniers. Moral of the story: next time, he'll train loaded, for a long time, because the bike with 5–8 kg of cargo is no longer the same bike; the back, the shoulders, the hands tell the truth. Another detail that is not one: the tubeless tells its miracles in silence. At home, while changing his tires, he sees the small meatballs of latex caused by the preventative liquid, so many punctures avoided. That's what ultra is: a sum of small, concrete intelligences.

And then, beyond the technique, there is the pact. He explains it without pathos: when you align yourself, you hire people. — the brands that support, the organization that trusts, BikingMan that opens the door, the media that waits for a story. We must then be serious without taking ourselves seriously: do things properly, let the field transform you, come back grown.

The gravel community: fewer watts, more connections

He likes this different sociability. On route, every man for himself; in gravel, we wait for each other, we repair together, we smile at each other. We can come for the performance, of course, but the dominant grammar is elsewhere: bytagtake the path, take on the unexpected, change your relationship with figures. There's less of a pile of metrics that saturate the screen. And most importantly, there's room for all levels of engagement. » Gravel, he says, is the ultimate bike : we can go to work, jump a curb, ride on a greenway, hang a bag, or line up for a championship. Versatility as an active principle.

Here again, realism is never far away. For young people tempted by a full gravel career, he reminds us of the economic truth of the moment: beautiful images do not always pay the bills. Before attracting brands, you need time, results, and a community. And you don't earn your living as reliably as in the WorldTour. » A responsible message - freedom costs money, and that's fine if we accept it.

Media through simplicity: videos that make you want to ride

On social media, his educational capsules are attractive because they exude the atmosphere of a workshop and a Sunday outing.We talk about pressures, tires, wicks, little latex balls, choice of gears, shoes - and we gently tease a pair of socks that are too high. Nothing for sale : " I'm leavingtagWhat I missed when I was young. The feedback makes me want to continue. » Popularizing is not simplifying: it is translating expertise into accessible gestures.On TV as on video, the thread is the same: make people love cycling by making it less intimidating.

What the ultra rehashes: confidence, patience, lucidity

At 555, he especially learned to put back long time. Register, prepare, don't burn your equipment, accept that the right pace is the one that takes you straight, for a long time. Don't fantasize about the myth of pure suffering: ultra rewards care — of the body, of diet, of stolen sleep when possible, of mechanics. And mentally? Yes, I had doubts; that's normal. But doubts are better to have at the start than in the last 20 kilometers. "An ultra phrase, that: put away pride, listen to the terrain, let the journey do its work.

Tomorrow: Extend the focal length

He has a head full of projects, without locking himself away. A real BikingMan 1000, on unknown territory – Morocco version 1100 km, Corsica, Brazil: “ Get out of your comfort zone, think big and exotic. » Bordeaux–Paris, relaunched by an organizer he knows, intrigues him. A sub-3-hour marathon (he has the drive, the appetite, and the ability to structure his preparation). An Ironman, for the joy of the disciplines that come together. An ultra-trail one day—the UTMB, the Diagonale des Fous—why not? He laughs: " The list is long. » We mainly hear that she is alive.

Comment while remaining a runner

His weeks are written between plateau and slopes, between headset and bicycle helmetThis continuous ribbon creates a rare quality: not to forget. Not to forget the wind that wears, the shoulder that pulls, the hunger that creeps, the fear that seizes up on the descent. On air, it can be heard. He doesn't "overlook" the race, he returns to it with words. And his modern practice—gravel, autonomy, tests of material — keeps sensors connected to what today's cyclists, pros and amateurs, experience.

A sentence to sum it up?

When I ask him for the final sentence, he laughs, then doesn't deflect the ball: " Always on the attack. Attack by Pierre Rolland. "There is no nostalgia or posturing. Just the simple idea that momentum is a daily choice. We can leave the WorldTour, but we don't give up on our drive. We change the scenery, not the words. We go from the dream polka-dot jersey to the sticker bib of a 555, from a legendary slope to a throaty Oukaïmeden pass at 3000 m, from watts to the silence of a night in the desert. We learn other gestures—laying a strand of hair properly, carrying a windbreaker, reading a track—we rediscover the same joys: the attack, again, but at the right pace.

BikingMan wanted his name mentioned: here it is, in the right place. Because deep down, BikingMan 555 Morocco is not just another trophy on atagst. It is a pivotal chapter: the one where Pierre, the attacker of the Alps, relearns to win differently. Win what? Just a finisher's jersey and above all: stories that remain — and that's a lot. Win the desire to do it again, further, longer. Earn what you earn when you don't mark the world with a record, but with traces.

So yes, Rolland is consultant on L'Équipe 21, content creator, ambassador, very serious Sunday runner, ultra-curious about long distance, father of small videos who learn to inflate a tubeless tire and smile at a sock that's too high. He is above all what he likes to do, and it shows.

The final scene could be simple: late afternoon, Marrakech exudes its warmth, the “red city” truly glows. He tightens a satchel strap, glances at the tilting sky, thinks of the Oukaïmeden awaiting him in the night. Nothing heroic, nothing theatrical. The right gesture: set off at the right pace, take what the route give, stay on the attack. And learn again.

=> All our Portraits articles