In the torpor of the Morbihan summer, the machine is impressive. At the beginning of the sunny afternoon of Saturday, August 5, 2017, the holidaymakers of the Port Sable d’Arzon campsite witnessed a curious spectacle. Between catamarans and windsurfers, a brand new yacht 85 meters long and three stories high flies the flag of the Cayman Islands. The boat slows down and then stops, to anchor a few hectometres from the Brittany coast, in the small bay of Arzon.

This giant of the seaswhich houses nine cabins, a helipad and even a spa, is called Areti, named after the oil and gas company of its owner, Russian-Turkmen billionaire Igor Makarov. A professional cyclist during the Soviet Union, the oligarch knew how to take advantage of the fall of the latter to amass a great fortune, valued at 2,000 million dollars (1,850 million euros), mainly in the gas sector, Turkmenistan and Russia.

Mr. Makarov, who is one of the forty richest people in Russia, is also a man who counts in the world of cycling. Together with Vladimir Putin and the Russian gas giant Gazprom, he was notably behind the creation, in 2008, of Katusha, the first Russian team on the World Tour, which brings together the best formations in the world. He is also honorary president of the Russian Cycling Federation and a member, since 2011, of the steering committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI), the federation based in Aigle, Switzerland. In that vantage point, the oligarch has influence measured by the millions of dollars in endorsements he has rained down on professional cycling over the years.

meteoric rise

This is no stranger to the incongruous scale of Areti in the Morbihan Bay, in the summer of 2017. Indeed, Igor Makarov comes to visit another eminent cycling figure: David Lappartient, mayor of the neighboring town of Sarzeau since 2008. Close to Nicolas Sarkozy, this pure politician, tireless worker driven by his ambition, achieved a meteoric rise in the cycling authorities. Elected president of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) in 2009, this former amateur cyclist has also been in charge of the European Cycling Union (UEC) since 2013. Next step: the election of the UCI president, which will take place a a month and a half later, on September 21, 2017, Igor Makarov is credited with the power to make and unmake kings there.

The temptation is strong to imagine that this election, which Mr. Lappartient will ultimately win, will be played this Saturday, August 5, 2017 against Arzon. Local sources evoke round trips by helicopter, a drunkenness on the yacht and a discreet meeting between Mr. Lappartient and an occupant of the boat, in the neighboring town of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys. “I remember that David took the opportunity to go for a bike ride with the occupants of the boat, recalls Roland Tabart, mayor of Arzon and close to Mr. Lappartient. They worked on the ship and on land. Presumably he had something to do with the upcoming election. »

You have 82.17% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.