Who is Yuri Leitan, the cycling enthusiast who made Portuguese history in Paris?

A confident Youri Leitan made his dream come true this Saturday on behalf of a family of athletes, turning his passion for cycling into an Olympic title in Madison and confirming that he is “one of the best in the world” and in Portuguese Olympism.

It only takes a more relaxed conversation with Youri Leitão to understand that the cyclist from Viana do Castelo is a confident man who knows what he wants. He has a smooth, thoughtful way of speaking and he has handled the media coverage he has received well, as well as the medals he has won on the track, in addition to the victories on the road.

Nicknamed the ‘Flying Pig’ after his national track cycling ‘family’, a moniker he wears with pride (usually with a pink pig printed on his kit), Yuri Leitao is ‘a real man’, according to João Matias, the oldest of his colleagues on the team.

“He says and does what he thinks at the moment, without thinking too much. In everything in life and especially on a bike there is a real ‘spark’. Some call it ‘a match’ because it only needs a little incentive to ignite immediately,” Matias told Lusa.

The 26-year-old Viennese’s biggest “fit” is his passion for cycling, which has grown exponentially since he started out in the world at the age of six, “pushed” by a friend of his father’s.

Today, he speaks about his sport with a twinkle in his eye: “This is my profession, but I do it for fun. I do it because I like it, because it’s something that gives me a lot of joy and gives me a really good adrenaline rush.”

It was on the road that he picked up his first bikes, but it was on the track, opened at 16, that he became one of the “best in the world”, as he reminded reporters when he won silver in the omnium, in a winning streak that began in 2020, when he became European scratch champion for the first time, as well as finishing second on the continent in the qualifying tournament.

The results on the track, combined with promising performances on the road, “opened” the doors for him in Tawfer-Meacindot-Mortagua, where he made his debut as a professional cyclist and established himself as one of the most promising sprinters in the national peloton – he won the points classification in Volta ao Alentejo, as well as two stages, and also won a stage of the Grande Prémio Douro Internacional.

The Portuguese’s talent did not go unnoticed by Caja Rural, the Spanish team in the second tier in the world, who signed Leitan in 2022 and keep him in their ranks to this day, in a relationship that has not always been easy, but which had to be agreed upon.”

“When I joined the team, I was a rookie and it was difficult to show what I could do. The team understood that I had very clear, well-defined goals on the track. They understood and we came to an agreement. Because I don’t let the team down and I have three wins this year…”, he told Luce in an interview ahead of Paris 2024.

With the confidence and seemingly constant calm that he exudes, Leitao made his way into the international peloton and in the first year of his “adventure” abroad, as he “christened” it, he won “only” one stage, in the Ronde de l’Oise, in addition to repeating the continental scratch title.

The following season would be a season of confirmation, with a number of important results: he won the Tour of Greece, where he won one stage, two victories at the Grand Prix of Beiras and Serra da Estrela and another at the Tour of Croatia, becoming the omnium world champion.

On his way to his two Olympic medals – already equalling the best Portuguese in history – he became the first man to win three European titles from scratch, at the start of a season that saw him triumph at the Tour of Greece, the Grand Prix of Beiras and Serra da Estrela and a return to the Alentejo.

Today, the proud Minho native, who considers his region’s Olympic canoeists “his childhood idols,” has collected the most coveted of all medals, which he, like all the others, will pass on to his girlfriend, Carolina.