Celia Gery will end her cyclocross season after the European Championships as she awaits surgery for an iliac artery problem, despite winning convincingly in Nommay on Sunday. The 20-year-old French road and cyclocross champion has been racing with leg pain since August and has only a fortnight left of a winter she had intended to contest at full strength.

“I didn’t want to miss an entire cyclocross season. I’m happy to be able to do these few races,” Gery told DirectVelo.

Sunday’s victory in the second round of the Coupe de France followed fifth place the previous day. Gery had left Saturday’s race disappointed and uncertain about how she would perform, before dominating in difficult conditions in the colours of Specialized TMRW.

“It’s difficult to manage. I’ve had pain in my leg since August. I have a problem with my iliac artery,” she explained. “Today, I wanted to try to find some solutions. I tried to manage the problem better and enjoy the technical side of the race. Cyclocross is the discipline I really enjoy.”

Gery is widely viewed as a superstar of the future on the road and in cyclocross

A short campaign after a breakthrough road season

Gery won Brabantse Pijl and Chambery this spring before adding the French road title to the national cyclocross jersey she had secured in January. Already the 2024 junior cyclocross world champion and 2025 under-23 road world champion, she completed the closing part of her road campaign while managing the leg problem.

“I managed to get through the end of my road season. I wanted to try to do the start of this cyclocross season, knowing it would be very difficult with this kind of effort,” she said. “I wanted to enjoy the few cyclocross races I’ll have the chance to do.”

Her move into the new Specialized TMRW cyclocross project gave her a fresh jersey to race in this winter, alongside her road commitments with FDJ United-SUEZ.

“I was also looking forward to showing off the new team’s jersey and doing a full season at my best. But that’s how it is. We don’t get to choose. You have to deal with it. That’s life,” Gery said.

The pain persisted through her winning ride in Nommay. “Obviously, having pain like that is never pleasant. But I enjoyed the technical side. That’s the main thing.”

Surgery planned for winter

Gery has not yet been given an exact date for the operation. FDJ United-SUEZ is continuing to support her, with her remaining race appearances taking her through to the European Championships.

“I’m going to ride the Koppenbergcross. I’ll try to manage it as best I can again. Some days are better than others with this,” she said. “After that, I’ll see what comes next while I wait for the operation. I don’t have an exact date yet. It will be this winter.”

Looking beyond treatment, Gery added: “I hope I’ll be back at full strength next year.”

Her planned November stop means she will miss the French championships later in the winter, ending her opportunity to defend the cyclocross half of the national-title double she completed this season.