Thomas Allier (born 24 March 1975 in Fontenay-aux-Roses,[1][2]Hauts-de-Seine) is a French professional "Mid/Current School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1993 to 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.
Height & weight at height of his career (1995–2006): Ht:6'1" Wt:188lbs (1.85m, 85.5kg).
*In the NBL it is B"/Superclass/"A" pro (beginning with 2000 season); in the ABA it is "A" pro. **In the NBL it is "A" pro (Elite men); in the ABA it is "AA" pro.
Career factory and major bike shop sponsors
Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.
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.[4] Previously in October 1998 Schwinn Cycling & Fitness acquired GT Bicycles Inc. and merged.[5]
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.[6] and after the ABA Fall Nationals in Delmar, California on 26 October 2003.[7]
GT Bicycles: Late October 2003 – 11 December 2006
Free Agent Bicycles: 12 December 2006 – present
Career bicycle motocross titles
Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.
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)*
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
*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1996 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.
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 and Laëtitia Le Corguillé won the first Gold and Silver medals respectively to be awarded in the Olympic Games for BMX. Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championships
Notable accolades
Significant injuries
Dislocated finger on left hand on 23 July 1998
Broke hand at the 1999 ABA Super Nationals in Desoto, Texas on day 1 in the last pro main.[8] 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.[9]
Suffered a shoulder/collarbone separation at the UCI World Championships in Louisville, Kentucky on the weekend of 26 July 2001. He crashed on the first set of jumps in the first straight. He had to miss the 2001 X Games Downhill BMX race.[10]
Racing habits and traits
Miscellaneous
Set the World Bunny Hoping record of 47" in 2001 at the BMX Plus! BMX Olympics,[11] breaking Steve Veltman's previous record of 46" set in 1996.[12] It still stands. He would later claim to have broken his own record unofficially by achieving a jump of 48" later in 2001.[3] This is confirmed by some friends training with him: "Thomas could do some bunny hops 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 China pro BMX race which was held in Taiyuan, China on Saturday 25 September 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 Olympics.[13]
Post BMX career
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BMX magazine covers
Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career(s) are listed unless specifically noted.
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 Lévêque.
"Thomas Allier: The One" Transworld BMX July 2001 Vol.8 Iss.6 No.57 pg.50
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