Set up in Belgium, the main objective of Team X1X is to become a competitive and high performance centre for young pilots. With the modus operandi of an academy, the founder of Team X1X, Vincent Gillard, wants to "welcome and support athletes in a professional environment, so that they can count on a paragliding mentor, a psychologist, a physical trainer, a physiotherapist, a dietician and a communication coach". Basically, to offer them all-round training in every aspect so that they can reach the top.
Before entering the world of paragliding, Vincent was a professional motorcyclist, manager and competitor, with a very strict routine and discipline. Noting that in the world paragliding competitions pilots were left to develop alone, he decided to create this team to further their sporting success. He also contacted Maxime Bellemin, the well-known pilot, to coach the youngsters, and he offered to do so without hesitation. Maxime is famous not only for his decades of experience and his many national and international competition victories, but also for his performance training with the French team and his two books on Performance Paragliding.
At the moment, the team consists of three Belgian pilots who are part of Niviuk&39;s "Racing Team" - Thibault Voglet, Quentin Debras and Jean de Biolley, who have already made their first flights with their Icepeak X-One wings in some of this season&39;s competitions. "We have several objectives for 2022, but above all we want to take Team X1X as far as possible, both in competitions and in cross-country flying," says Thibault. "Sharing is caring, and that&39;s the main reason why I fell in love with the idea of this team," he concludes.
As Jean explains, they are not only preparing for competitions, but also for other disciplines: "As a team, we plan to do vol-biv and also do some more relaxed and enjoyable flatland flights. It&39;s a great opportunity to learn from my teammates and the coach.” Quentin feels similarly: "As for me, I will fly the best I can, learn from the best and try to produce beautiful stories to share my passion with everyone.”
Over to them to go all out and make the most of these opportunities.
WHAT ARE YOU
LOOKING FOR?