Patrice Afflatet: managing the Scott Downhill Factory team

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.