François Pervis


François "Franck" Pervis is a French track cyclist. He is a former junior world champion in the team sprint and twice European under 23 champion, as well as a seven-time world champion and a holder of two world records. In 2014 he became the first track cyclist to win three individual world titles at one championship, in the keirin, 1 km and sprint.

Biography

Pervis joined his first cycling club, the Véloce Club de Château Gontier, in 1996. He dabbled in road, mountain biking, cyclo-cross and track cycling as a youngster and began concentrating on the track as a junior rider.
He went on to win the silver medal as part of the team sprint squad at the 2001 Junior UCI Track World Championships. He bettered that in 2002 when he took the gold medal in the same event and added a silver in the sprint.
In 2003, he was a member of the gold medal winning team sprint squad at the Under 23 European Track Championships, and won the U23 Sprint at the French National Track Championships, and finished second in the U23 Kilo.
Pervis competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, finishing sixth in the Kilo. He also won the kilo at the Under 23 European Track Championships, came second in the U23 Sprint National Championships and was third in the team sprint at the World Cup in Manchester.
2005 saw Pervis take his first senior French National Championship title, winning the kilo, and coming second in the U23 sprint.
Pervis successfully defended his French National Championship title in the kilo in 2006, also winning the U23 sprint title and coming second in the team sprint. He won a handful of medals in the World Cup events in Los Angeles and Sydney as well as two silver medals in the kilo and team sprint at the Under 23 European Track Championships. He also claimed the bronze medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
He was again the senior French National Champion in 2007, beating Didier Henriette to take his third consecutive kilo title, and also taking the bronze medal in the keirin. He won the silver medal in the kilo at the 2007 UCI Track World Championships, and won several medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Los Angeles, Manchester and Beijing. Pervis also finished second in the Sprint Omnium at the European Track Championships in Alkmaar
2008 brought more victories for Pervis in the World Cup events in Los Angeles and Ballerup. He took the bronze medal this time round at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. He served as a substitute for the team sprint, representing France once again at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in Beijing, but did not ride. His teammates went on to take the silver medal.
Pervis set a new world record time in the kilometre time trial at a UCI Track Cycling World Cup event on 7 December 2013. At the Aguascalientes velodrome in Mexico he beat the previous world record by over two and a half seconds to record a time of 56.303.

Personal life

He lives in Yvelines in France and in Japan. Since 2010 he spends the April–August period of every year in Japan, where he has a contract for the international keirin track racing season. After being not selected for the 2012 Olympics he went into depression, and recovered with the help of mental trainer and former football coach Denis Troch.

Palmarès

;2001
;2002
;2003
;2004
;2005
;2006
;2007
;2008
;2009
;2013
;2014
;2015