Living confined to your apartments is a slow poison for a high-level athlete. Even if, outside, there is a lethal coronavirus putting the planet under its yoke, and which constitutes an even greater danger. For a professional athlete, to be deprived of the practice of his discipline from one day to the next and over a fairly long term, in terms of his space-time, is to create a terrible lack, instill doubt and arouse fear of a loss of level. An anxiety to take into account in the mental management of these champions that Johann Zarco defines perfectly…
Between the musical instruments, its olive trees, but also his cans which he recycles as useful instruments for his training, Johann zarco kill time. This lover of wide open spaces and speed cannot leave his home and must channel his energy into activities whose potential he had not previously suspected...
However, these substitutes cannot replace the essential: motorcycling. Johann zarco explains the need to ride at all times, all places and all times for a driver: “ the bike is starting to fail. How long will it be missing? It's the most difficult... I need to do it to progress and continue to be competitive. Even for simple pleasure. No matter how much we prepare physically, watch lots of races and test sessions to keep our heads active and try to get information, that's not motorcycle thrills. »
He adds on what driving really brings: “ on the bike, if you don't practice, you are already more vulnerable. There is a confidence to be gained, visual and body automatisms. Even though we know that if we go around the bend like this, we won't fall, it doesn't come instinctively. Sometimes we fall because the body wasn't ready to accept it. Hence the importance of doing your scales. "
An analysis which also explains the need recognized by the protagonists of the Grands Prix to make a test of getting back into the rhythm before embarking on the first Grand Prix, after so many months of interruption. Stop certainly, but not inactivity: “ I go running. I have a little space to run, so I do a lot of intervals, quite cardio things. This week, I did more stationary activity, a little boxing. And after muscle strengthening with body weight, everything that is push-ups, pull-up bar... This year, I wanted to concentrate on strengthening body weight, not going to the gym, so I am not too penalized »concludes the Frenchman in an interview with AFP.
