Born in 2002 in Lyon, France, Paul Martin grew up surrounded by sport, developing a strong connection to the mountains through alpine skiing and enduro mountain biking from an early age. He discovered road cycling at 17 while recovering from knee injuries, immediately falling in love with the sport and quickly taking a more serious approach to training and competition. At 18, Paul joined the Pôle Espoir de Saint-Étienne program, balancing high-level cycling with his engineering studies. During this period, he raced with the national road team Hexagon, where he established himself as a reliable teammate and competitive sprinter. Ahead of the 2025 season, his progression was interrupted by mononucleosis, followed by myocarditis and pericarditis — conditions that forced him to step away from racing and take a break from cycling altogether. During his recovery, gravel riding became a new source of motivation and enjoyment, offering a different way to reconnect with the bike. Now based in Marseille, Paul continues rebuilding his physical condition while embracing the adventure and freedom of gravel racing. With a strong desire to reach his full potential off-road, he approaches this new chapter with ambition, curiosity, and a genuine passion for riding.
As a bike racer what percentage of yourself would you define as research-driven and what percentage daring? I would probably say 70% research driven, i like the scientific method of doing things. It will not always decide everything but it will highly influence the finals choice. What is the part of your technical preparation that you are most passionate about? I’m really into bike tech so improving the aero and the efficiency of the bike. I also really like to improve my confort and make things easier for the head by organizing my pockets a certains way and have nothing moving regarding closes.
How would you define your racing personality and style? As a racer I’m not really agressive, I usually wait and take the opportunity when I see one, if I can I will wait for the final sprint. What is your favourite race and why? I didn’t race all of the gravel ones hahaha but I had a really good time in Millau (uci World Series), not so many steep parts, a few climbs but mainly some longs gravel road in crazy landscape and thru a military camp.
Where is your favourite place to train and why? To train on the road south of France is the perfect spot, you have the sea, you have some big climbs and incredibly fast descent, all of that with the sun. What is your performance ambition for 2026? 2026 is still a transition year for me, I’m trying to come back from 2025 heart problems. I’m aiming to reach back my best level on the bike and have some fun on the gravel. In what way do you think Q36.5 can contribute to the realization of your 2026 ambitions? Q36.5 will help me remove excuses when it comes to training, whatever the weather conditions. By reducing discomfort, it will allow me to spend longer hours training and stay fully focused on the effort itself. This will be an important contribution toward achieving my 2026 ambitions.
What are the most challenging racing conditions you expect to encounter in 2026? What race is going to demand the most from your Q36.5 clothing? The rift in Iceland is probably going to be the hardest conditions regarding cold and rain, so it will be important to have some aero warm breathable kit. What are the conditions (racing and training) in which you have struggled with most in the past few years from the point of view of clothing? In the past few years I’ve struggled a lot with witer kit that wasn’t breathable enough and would get cold after a bit a sweat. And also bib that would only be confortable for the first 3 uses. How would you describe Q36.5 relative to other on-bike clothing you have used before? For what I’ve tested at the moment, I don’t think that I would have ever say that but a good bib change you’re life hahaha, it’s basically the best I’ve ever used. What’s your current favourite Q36.5 item and why? Dottore pro is my current favorite item, you kind of feel naked when you wear it. But I know it soon going to be a gravel skinsuits…
