Cédric Ravanel: the unusual method of the team manager who makes Vali Höll win
Making a world champion win isn’t about giving her a faster bike. Cédric Ravanel, team manager of Commençal Schwalbe by Les Orres, the team Vali Höll joined for 2026, explains his method.
Playing the video loads it from YouTube, which may set cookies. Learn more
We met him in Les Gets, the day before the World Cup. Twenty-two years ago, he was cross-country world vice-champion on that very same mountain, finishing with a helmet split in two. Before that, he had never chosen cycling: his surgeon prescribed it after he broke both knees skiing.
A downhill World Cup team, run as a family
Today, Cédric Ravanel runs a downhill World Cup team with his wife Cécile, who is its performance director. They have supported Vali Höll for six years, well before she wore their colours.
What a champion changes within a team
Over the conversation, we cover the staff that had to be added, the 200 square metres (about 2,150 sq ft) set aside for the riders where other teams give that space to mechanics, and a full week of tyre testing in Italy and France. There is also the behind-the-scenes work that pays off on race day, the rivalry with the other Commençal team, Riding Addiction, where he says plainly that he is there to be in front, and what you do with a very good athlete who needs to be held back rather than pushed.
He keeps scouting young riders all over the world and personally coaches Sacha within team 101.
And you, what do you think makes the difference in a team: equipment, training or mindset? Tell us in the comments.
This episode is supported by SFG, which created Protect Bike, a French bike insurance covering theft, breakage, crashes and damage (sfg.fr), and by Emerald Stay, official accommodation provider of the Les Gets World Cup, in one of whose apartments the episode was recorded (emeraldstay.com).
