Cycling

Valence, Spain

Ricardo and 
his Cycling school 

Cycling through Spain

Cycling is part of Ricardo Martinez childhood’s memories. His grand-father was a professional cyclist who opened a cycling workshop, and his father carried on this work.

Ricardo is born in a world of cycling. « Bikes are part of my DNA.»

 

During his teenage years, Jose participated in races and won some of them. Around 20, he signed his first professional contract. Since then, he had a successful career and participated in the “Vuelta” and the “Tour de France”.

Cycling Passion Ricardo Childhood

But everything is not.. red or yellow. In 1990, he decided to stop his professional career because of regular knee wounds. He didn’t want to have injections all his life.

He had to carry on his life and find a way to keep his passion, cycling, into his life.

Ricardo, une vie à vélo

In 1995, Ricardo decided to open his own cycling store in Valence, after he trained many teams of young cyclists. Very good choice : thanks to his great experience and his national fame, Ricardo had a very loyal customer base. But this changed when a Decathlon store opened in town.

Because of the pandemic and other problems, Ricardo decided to close the store he opened 25 years ago. And as a revenge, he started to work in the cycling department of the Sagonte Decathlon store. «After being very unhappy, I am now very happy. I enjoy every moment of the day with my co-workers. Decathlon is a big family, the team spirit is unbelievable. I have been able to pass on my technical knowledge and enjoy a regular learning process.»

This is the story of Ricardo, his life means cycling, he started as a globetrotter and ended his professional career on a high note in a new family: the Decathlon store of Sagonte.

June 2021

DECATHLON SAGONTE

VAN RYSEL

Van Rysel is the Decathlon road bikes Performance brand. Born in January 2019, its name means: “Originally from Lille”. It is indeed at the Btwin Village, in Lille, that we create our products and put together our bikes.