Thomas Allier
Encyclopedia
Thomas Allier is a French professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
racer whose prime competitive years were from 1993-2006. Allier was a member of the French Olympic BMX Team participating in the debut of BMX racing at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing, China. Allier did not make it past the quarter finals.
Started Racing: September 1989 at 14 years old.
Sanctioning Body: UCI
First race result: Third place.
First win (local):
First sponsor:
First national win:
Turned Professional: 1998
First Professional race result:
First Professional win:
First Junior Pro* win:
First Senior Pro** race result:
First Senior Pro win:
Retired: Active
Height & weight at height of his career (1995–2006): Ht:6'1" Wt:188 lbs (1.85m, 85.5 kg).
**In the NBL it is "A" pro (Elite men); in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
racer whose prime competitive years were from 1993-2006. Allier was a member of the French Olympic BMX Team participating in the debut of BMX racing at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing, China. Allier did not make it past the quarter finals.
Racing career milestones
----Started Racing: September 1989 at 14 years old.
Sanctioning Body: UCI
First race result: Third place.
First win (local):
First sponsor:
First national win:
Turned Professional: 1998
First Professional race result:
First Professional win:
First Junior Pro* win:
First Senior Pro** race result:
First Senior Pro win:
Retired: Active
Height & weight at height of his career (1995–2006): Ht:6'1" Wt:188 lbs (1.85m, 85.5 kg).
**In the NBL it is "A" pro (Elite men); in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
Amateur
- Sunn/Chipie: 1993-September 1997
- Sunn/Nike: September 1997-1999 Allier would turn pro in the US with this sponsor.
Professional
- Sunn/Nike: September 1997-1999
- GT (Gary Turner) Bicycles/Pansonic Shock Wave: 1999-October 2001. GT dropped its entire BMX and freestyle teams after Pacific Coast Cycles brought Schwinn/GT. Previously in October 1998 Schwinn Cycling & Fitness acquired GT Bicycles Inc. and merged.
- Giant Bicycles: Late December 2001-Late October 2003. In an odd repeat of his experience in 2001 with GT Bicycles, Giant Bicycles dropped its professional members of its team. Ironically, GT Bicycles which dropped its team two years before due to financial difficulties, picked him up for its European division after Allier moved back to France after the 2003 NBL season. and after the ABA Fall Nationals in Delmar, California on October 26, 2003.
- GT Bicycles: Late October 2003-December 11, 2006
- Free Agent Bicycles: December 12, 2006–Present
Amateur
Association Francaise de Bicrossing (AFdB)La Fédération Française de Bicrossing (FFB)
Fédération Française de Cyclisme (FFC)
- 1994 Junior Men French Champion.
National Bicycle Association (NBA)
- None (defunct)
National Bicycle League (NBL)
- None
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
- None
United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
- None (Defunct)
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
- 1991 16 Expert Bronze Medal World Champion
- 1994 18-24 Cruiser World Champion
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
Professional
Association Francaise de Bicrossing (AFdB)La Fédération Française de Bicrossing (FFB)
Fédération Française de Cyclisme (FFC)
- 1995-1998 Elite Men French Champion
- 2005 Elite Men French Champion
National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle Association
The National Bicycle Association , later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association was an United States based Bicycle Motocross sports sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, California that was created by Ernie Alexander in 1973 and ceased operations as an independent body in 1981...
(NBA)
- None (defunct)
National Bicycle League
National Bicycle League
The National Bicycle League is a United States based Bicycle Motocross sports sanctioning body originally based in Deerfield Beach, Florida but after several moves it was based in Hilliard, Ohio...
(NBL)
- 2000 National No.1 Pro
American Bicycle Association
American Bicycle Association
The American Bicycle Association is a United States-based Bicycle Motocross sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona created by Merl Mennenga and Gene Roden in 1977. It is the largest sanctioning body in the United States concerning BMX. It has tracks in Canada and Mexico as well as in the USA...
(ABA)
- 2000, 2002 Pro World Cup Champion
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
The United States Bicycle Association was a short lived Bicycle Motocross national sanctioning body based in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in March 1984 by five former members of the American Bicycle Association : Rich Mann, Dave Cook, Geoff Sims, Steve Schaefer and Rod Keeling, who became the...
(USBA)
- None (defunct)
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
- None (defunct)
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
- None (defunct)
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
- 1997 Elite Men Grand Prix BMX Valkenswaard Champion (World Cup Pre-Race)
- 1998 Elite Men European Elite/Junior Champion
- 1998, 1999 Gold medal Elite Cruiser World Champion
- 1998 Gold medal Elite Men European Champion
- 1998 Gold medal Elite Men World Champion
- 2000 Gold medal Elite Men World Champion
- 2004, 2005 Elite Men European Champion
International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
(IOC)
- Games of the XXIX Olympiad (2008 Summer Olympics)
- Discipline: Men's BMX
- French BMX Teammates: Damien Godet, Anne-Caroline ChaussonAnne-Caroline ChaussonAnne-Caroline Chausson is a French Olympic gold medalist in BMX, and downhill time trial and cross-country mass start, dual, and four-cross mountain bicycle racer, best known for having won thirteen Union Cycliste Internationale senior world championship rainbow jerseys, fourteen continental...
, Laëtitia Le CorguilléLaëtitia Le CorguilléLaëtitia Le Corguillé is a French BMX racer and Olympic athlete who won the silver medal in BMX at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.-External links:... - Location: Laoshan BMX FieldLaoshan Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX) VenueThe Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross Venue was one of 9 temporary venues used for the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was located in Laoshan, Shijingshan District, Beijing. The venue was used for the men's and women's BMX racing events.-References:*...
Beijing, China - Number of competitors: 32
- Positions:
- Event Results Wednesday August 20
- Men's First Seeding Run‡: 37.176sec.
- Men's Second Seeding Run: 36.649sec.
- Seconds behind leader: +0.957 (19th place).
- Seeding Run leader: Mike Day
- Allier advances to Quarterfinals†
- Men's Quarter Finals (Overall after three motos of Run 4): 6th place; did not qualify for Semi Final*.
- Event Results Thursday August 21
- Posponed due to rain.
- Event Results Friday August 22
- Men's Semi Finals:DNQ
- Men's Final (Medal Round): DNQ
- Bronze medalBronze medalA bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
winner: Donny RobinsonDonny RobinsonDonald Robinson is an American professional "New/Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years are from 1999 to the present. His moniker is "dR", his initials. The use of the lowercase "d" for his given name is perhaps related to his relatively diminutive physical size...
- Silver medalSilver medalA silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
winner: Mike DayMike DayMicheal Day is a professional American "Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years are from 2002–Present. His nickname is a play on a common phrase...
- Gold medalGold medalA gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
winner:** Māris ŠtrombergsMaris ŠtrombergsMāris Štrombergs is a Latvian professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships....
Allier's teammate on the Men's French team Damien Godet, the fourth member of the French team made the Men's Finals but came in last place with a DNF, Did Not Finish. His teammates the women's team Anne-Caroline Chausson
Anne-Caroline Chausson
Anne-Caroline Chausson is a French Olympic gold medalist in BMX, and downhill time trial and cross-country mass start, dual, and four-cross mountain bicycle racer, best known for having won thirteen Union Cycliste Internationale senior world championship rainbow jerseys, fourteen continental...
and Laëtitia Le Corguillé
Laëtitia Le Corguillé
Laëtitia Le Corguillé is a French BMX racer and Olympic athlete who won the silver medal in BMX at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.-External links:...
won the first Gold
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
and Silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
s respectively to be awarded in the Olympic Games for BMX.
Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships
Significant injuries
- Dislocated finger on left hand on July 23, 1998
- Broke hand at the 1999 ABA Super Nationals in Desoto, TexasDeSoto, TexasDeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Over the past eleven years since the 2000 U.S. Census Report, the City of DeSoto has grown in population from 37,646 to 49,047....
on day 1 in the last pro main. Soon after while cross training on his mountain bike he slipped a pedal resulting in the chainring imbedding itself into his right leg, tearing muscle. - Suffered a shoulder/collarbone separation at the UCI World Championships in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
on the weekend of July 26, 2001. He crashed on the first set of jumps in the first straight. He had to miss the 2001 X GamesX GamesThe X Games is a commercial annual sports event, controlled and arranged by US sports broadcaster ESPN, which focuses on action sports. The inaugural X Games was held in the summer of 1995 in Rhode Island....
Downhill BMX race.
Miscellaneous
- Set the World Bunny Hoping record of 47" in 2001 at the BMX Plus! BMX Olympics, breaking Steve VeltmanSteve VeltmanStephen James Veltman is a former American "Old School/Mid School" professional Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1981–1983 and 1989 to 1998...
's previous record of 46" set in 1996. It still stands. Note: This BMX "Olympics," which was created and held by BMX Plus! magazine every five years, has nothing to do with the international olympic games held every four years and sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He would later claimed to have broken his own record unofficially by achieving a jump of 48" later in 2001. This is confirmed by some friends training with him : "Thomas could do some bunny hups at an insane altitude. As I was breaking at 95cm, I saw him succeeding several times at 120cm, making me feel I was crappy."
- He won the first Republic of ChinaRepublic of ChinaThe Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
pro BMX race which was held in Taiyuan, China on Saturday, September 25, 2004 (local time, east of the International Dateline). It was seen as either as a vehicle to have Taiyuan as an Olympic sports venue or to introduce BMX to China. It was seen in any case as a preparatory race for the 2008 Summer Olympics2008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
.
BMX magazine covers
----Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
- None
BMX Plus!:
Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:
- January 2000 Vol.7 Iss.1 No.39 (Snap)
Moto Mag:
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official publication of the ABA under three names):
BMX press magazine interviews and articles
- "The French Invasion" Snap BMX Magazine May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.3 No.31 pg.40 Joint interview with fellow countryman and racer Christophe LévêqueChristophe LevequeChristophe Lévêque is a French professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990-2003...
. - "Thomas Allier: The One" Transworld BMX July 2001 Vol.8 Iss.6 No.57 pg.50