Introducing Alexandre Mayer: Mauritius' new pro is 'thinking big'
New Burgos-BH-Burpellet signing chats to Global Peloton about his step up to the pro ranks, being ganged up on at nationals and Vuelta dreams
Last week, Spanish ProTeam Burgos-Burpellet-BH announced the surprise signing of Mauritian rider Alexandre Mayer until the end of 2026. The 27-year-old has become Mauritius’ first professional rider in the men’s peloton, following in the footsteps of Kim Le Court-Pienaar, who won Liége-Bastogne-Liége this season.
Mayer has been one of the strongest riders on the African circuit over the past few seasons, winning the African Games title in 2024. In the same year, he signed a contract with his first UCI team, British team Saint Piran. That team folded at the end of last season, so this year Mayer has been racing for Foran CC, a British national-level team. He was third at the recent Lincoln GP.
Now he is about to make the massive step up to the professional level. We spoke about that leap from where he is to where he needs to be, the rise of cycling in Mauritius and the recent national championships where he won the TT, but was attacked from all angles in the road race with the new target on his back. I spoke to Mayer the day after the Mauritius national championships concluded.
The move is all part of the team’s drive toward great globalisation. I interviewed Damien Garcia, the team’s lead DS, earlier in the year to find out more about why the Spanish outfit has signed riders from Mongolia, Guatemala, Eritrea and elsewhere in recent years. You can read that piece here.
So get to know Burgos-Burpellet-BH’s new rider. Introducing Alexandre Mayer…
Global Peloton: Alex, congratulations on your national time-trial win. How did the weekend go?
Alexandre Mayer: I was really happy with my TT. I've been working on it the last couple of weeks. I really wanted to win this because I knew on Sunday it would be everyone against me. In the road race, you never know really how it can play out, whereas the TT, if you're the strongest, you're the strongest.
Then, yesterday [road race] was pretty hard. The whole race was, everyone was against me and I just couldn't do anything for the win. They were just basically not riding with me and just attacking me. Then I tried a few times to go solo, but every time I was going, they were all chasing back together. So it was really everyone against me. Especially now with the jersey on, they were like ‘oh, we need to beat the pro’.
GP: We’ve seen the achievements of Kim Le Court-Pienaar over the last couple of years and Mauritius winning all over Africa. What’s your impression of how Mauritius has progressed over the last few years?
AM: The National Federation had a plan since 2017. And we, there was a new coach, he used to be head of the UCI Centre, a French guy. He came to Mauritius and tried to put some structure in the clubs here. The goal was to just send riders on the African continent and just race there. There was a lot of money invested.
So, this is like nearly 10 years now. It's been growing slowly and I think it's only now that we can see the benefits from this programme. It took a few years, but it's not really showing the whole picture of Mauritius, because there's still not a lot of riders here. But the few ones that can go to Europe, we proved that we can perform and race well.
GP: The Tour de Maurice is coming up in a couple of months. That race upgraded to UCI level a couple of years ago, just how important has that been for the development of cycling in Mauritius?
AM: It used to be quite a small race where we were dominating, Team Mauritius were dominating quite a lot. So we talked to the federation and we were like, we need strong competition now and try and see how we can prove ourselves against strong riders of Europe. The last two years was a different level and it's quite big for the country.
GP: I’ve watched little bits of the livestream over the years and the roads look really challenging. What’s the terrain like in Mauritius?
AM: It's quite hilly and super punchy, short climbs and pretty steep. And you can get like really exposed sections with the wind and especially because the Tour is in winter so the wind is blowing quite a lot, so that makes a really, really hard race. And the roads are technical, so it's like narrow roads, punchy - not the kind of big open roads. So, it's a pretty hard race.
GP: You’re 27, which is late to turn pro. What does it mean to you to sign the contract with Burgos?
AM: First it's a big stress because I've never raced on that level, so we'll see how I go. But no I think every rider trains for that, you know. If you train 20 hours a week, you know what it's for. You want to go to the top level and to be there is quite something special. I can be really proud of it.
GP: How did the move come about?
AM: Last year I sent a few emails to teams because Saint Piran was not going really well so I needed to find something else for next year. I contacted a lot of conti teams and a few pro teams just to try my luck. Then they just came back to me and they were like, oh, you did a great season in 2024. but we’re full for next year. Try to send a message next year, maybe there's a chance.
Actually two weeks ago they contacted me. For me, I was already like, oh, it's done and I'm done, you know. They called me and he was like, ‘oh, are you still interested in Burgos?’ And then we started to chat.
GP: It’s a team that has become more and more international in the last few years. What are your initial impressions of the team?
AM: I think they're also struggling with UCI points. Last year when I contacted all the teams, I put that in my CV because I knew that could be an important point that can differentiate me to another rider, so I was pushing a lot that part of my CV. I think that's why also there's a lot of foreigners in the team. I think they won't lie about it. I think they're looking for UCI points, which is fair. It's quite a tricky, tricky battle at this level. There's also like a core of Spanish riders, so I think it's a good mix.
Also, it gives opportunity to small countries to show themselves. If you look at the other development teams, all the youngsters go to WorldTour development teams and then they go to the WorldTour team. There's still space in teams like Burgos for riders like me and from other countries.
Read more:
Should the 2025 Rwanda Worlds go ahead or be cancelled?
The next Biniam Girmay - 6 Eritrean riders on the rise
GP: From your initial conversations with the DS, what do you think their expectations are of you?
AM: I think they want to see my level first. Obviously I've sent all my power files and power data, all my results as well, so they kind of know approximately where I am, but I think they want to put me in bigger races and see my progression.
I think that's why they signed me also like now because I have a few months until the end of the season just to adapt with the team and just see how I can progress for next year and what I can target next year.
GP: You made the move to the UK last year, how much has that helped you to step up?
AM: Every time I go in Europe, my level just goes up in a few months. So, I think any rider overseas who is not living in Europe that comes to Europe, they're going to get stronger. It definitely helps a lot.
I was also in a French team before COVID. I raced a bit there in Brittany. If people race there in Brittany, they know what kind of level it is there. It's a super high level, even though it's not professional. So yeah, I've got much stronger and now if I go to the pro ranks, maybe I will get a bit stronger again.
GP: Obviously this is going to be a big step up in level for you, how do you expect to respond to that?
AM: You can see all the power numbers on the internet and Pogačar doing this or that, so obviously, you're like, am I strong enough to be there? And cycling has improved so much since COVID. Every rider is so strong now. So I want to see where I am and what I can do. But I don't put any pressure on myself because I take the opportunity and I'll just do it.
GP: You’re with the team until the end of next year, have you set any goals on what you’d like to achieve in that time?
AM: I just want to prove to the team that I'm a valuable rider. I know they also do the Vuelta a España, so if I get a really good progression, why not? You have to dream some way. You have to start thinking big. I think that would be crazy, but I know it's very hard. There's 25 riders in the team, it’s only eight riders that do the Vuelta. But apart from that, there's a lot of races during the year. We'll see what the team want me to do.
GP: Finally, you’ve got the first World Championships in Africa coming up in September, that must be a huge motivator for you.
AM: I've already raced there with the Tour of Rwanda last year. On the last day we did the circuit. It's really, really hard, especially with altitude as well. So I think trying to get in the break, that would be really good for Mauritius and for Africa in general. Just to be there, just to race there, the atmosphere is incredible. I think it's going to be probably the most insane world championship cycling ever done. So I think that's going to be really cool.
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