Patrice Afflatet is the guest on En Roue Libre Podcast
Episode in French.
Patrice Afflatet is the manager of the Scott Downhill Factory team.
Unlike Fabien Cousinié or Thibault Laly, whom you’ve heard before on En Roue Libre, Patrice is one of those for whom the desire to build a team didn’t come from his experience as a racer.
Rather, it was his experience managing complex situations on IT projects that got Patrice interested in how he could help racers perform by giving them structure and logistical and technical support at races.
And so far it has worked rather well: he has supported riders such as Marine and Rudy Cabirou and Florent Payet at the highest level, and to go further, in 2025 he brought in a certain Benoit Coulanges to help him in his quest for the ultimate title, downhill world champion.
But beyond his World Cup commitments, Patrice devotes most of his time and energy to supporting young enthusiasts so they can practise their favourite sport, and in this interview he shows just how powerful a driving force passion is for achieving extraordinary things.
In this episode, expect to discover:
– How, starting from nothing, he turned yesterday’s small Voulvoul Racing team into one of the biggest outfits in today’s paddock
– How he recruited Marine Cabirou and supported her for nearly 10 years
– How much a World Cup team costs today and what it involves in terms of staff and operations
– How Florent Payet’s arrival in the team gave it a new lease of life
– Behind the scenes of the development of Scott’s new bike and the constraints of working on a bike intended for series production
– His view on how the riders’ level has evolved
– What resources he gives Benoit Coulanges to reach his goal of one day becoming world champion.
– And plenty of other things.
Thanks to the Hôtel Mercure Loudenvielle Peyragudes for treating us like royalty.
Video chapters
00:00 Teaser
02:02 Introducing the guest
03:02 Summary
03:44 Introducing En Roue Libre
04:15 Introducing Agence Line
04:51 The Scott Downhill Factory team
05:46 How it started
13:08 The team’s structure today
17:19 Patrice’s background
25:44 When things got serious
43:06 A quick message
44:32 Marine Cabirou’s worth
49:57 2016, a big year
01:09:15 The collaboration with Scott
01:17:23 The constraints of a frame intended for series production
01:28:20 How to explain the small time gaps in races
01:37:17 The team’s goals with Benoit Coulanges
01:46:29 Extra pressure?
01:53:28 What we can wish him for the future
01:57:19 A next guest?
01:59:21 A final word
01:59:41 My final word
02:01:39:04 Thanks to the Hôtel Mercure Loudenvielle Peyragudes
02:02:03:18 Thank you!
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