After two years at the home of British Triathlon in Loughborough honing the skills that would help her become Olympic and World Champion last year, 2025 is a year of change for the Queen of Paris Cassandre Beaugrand. Moving to Girona, Spain, late last year to join a training group that also includes reigning T100 World Champion Marten Van Riel, Beaugrand is now under the watchful eye of former Belgian cyclist Glenn Poleunis.
That 2022 move to the UK was never going to be easy, so close to her biggest rival for the biggest prize of them all, Beth Potter. But by throwing herself out of her comfort zone and into the unknown, Beaugrand was able to escape the spotlight in France and set to work with Gavin Smith and his team in the lab. The rest is history.
Except there is so much more to tell. On episode 100 of the World Triathlon Podcast, the 27-year-old casts a fresh eye over everything that she accomplished last year and reveals the stories, experiences and obstacles that filled the many roads to that success. From the 14-year-old leaving Paris behind to the young athlete with big dreams and a self-confessed bad attitude, the people who stood by her and those she had to leave behind, the stories come thick and fast.
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“I was a bit sad, obviously, to leave Gav, but I think he understood and I was also excited to start something new with a new group, new environments, and I think it was what I needed maybe like post Olympics. Those two years in the UK was honestly such a good time and I will cherish that that forever because it obviously brought the best of me… from an athlete point of view and as a human.”
Having come to terms with training in the rain, improving her English and recalibrating herself as a less-stressed person, the Spanish sunshine was clearly calling after the rollercoaster ride of the Paris Olympic cycle.
I feel just so much more confident about myself. I feel like I'm at peace with myself, you know? I just love what I'm doing and it's crazy good when you just don't have any pressure. Why would I stress now, the most stressful race of my career is done!”
Her approach to racing so far in 2025 speaks loudly to that enjoyment. In February, Beaugrand became the fastest Frenchwoman over 5km. In March, she won gold at the T1 Indoor Triathlon World Cup Lievin. Now she prepares to line up for a shot at the supertri E World Triathlon Championship title, her first race against Beth Potter in 2025.
“I was going to the race (in Lievin), thinking, ‘Oh, I'm not sure I'm actually ready to do this type of very fast and furious racing’, but after one round, I was like, oh, that's exactly what I like.”
Then it will be on to WTCS Yokohama in May as Beaugrand looks to ramp up the defence of her world title, and there can be no mistaking how strong the hunger for success still burns inside and how razor sharp her competitive edge remains.
Listen to the full interview, as the champion reveals how she went from big dreams to deep depression after an Olympic DNF in Tokyo, escaped the sport and then plotted her path to success with the help of some shrewd decisions and some wonderful people along the way.
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