Expectations are high for young Paralympic cyclist Alexandre Léauté, 23, who is one of France's great hopes at his home Paralympic Games. "I know what I have to do and I intend to bring home as many medals as possible to leave my mark on my sport. If I succeed, it will be great, but if I don't, it won't keep me up at night," he told Olympics.com on Thursday during a press conference in his hotel room in Lille, where he was attending his final preparation camp. 

Léauté is already in Paris and will be resting during the opening ceremony, in accordance with the team's instructions, so as not to put a strain on the bodies of those who will be competing shortly afterwards.

Léauté, who suffered a stroke at birth that left him with 95% of the strength in his right leg, is a four-time medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Games and a19-time world champion at the age of 23. Both on the track at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome and on the roads of Clichy-sous-Bois, he will be one of the favourites.

In fact, Léauté will be competing both on the track and on the road. "I will not hide the fact that I want to win two or even three gold medals," said Léauté. He will compete in the pursuit, the kilometre and the team sprint on the track. The time trial and the road race will follow. "My main goal is the pursuit, where I am the reigning Paralympic champion and world record holder, and the road time trial. As for the rest, I want to have fun, especially in the team sprint," he said.

"There are a lot of us who have the potential to win medals. I'm not really allowed to say this, but I'll say it anyway: Our goal is to win 25 medals in total! That's a lot, so we'll have opportunities every day and we'll all push each other," he told the conference before the start of the most important event of his career.

Léauté's hope is that the Paralympic Games will be as much a part of the fans' lives as the Olympic Games were a few weeks ago. The French, who will be competing on home soil, are particularly keen. "I hope they will attend both the Paralympics and the Olympics. There is a real enthusiasm that we haven't seen yet. We need to be psychologically prepared when we get there," warns Léauté. "It will be great, especially as my family, who rarely accompany me, will be there," he added.

His family and many more friends will be there, as it has been announced that two buses with a total of around a hundred people will be coming from Brittany to cheer on the local lad.

France will be hoping the 23-year-old can repeat his compatriot Léon Marchand's feat in the pool at the Olympic Games, but Léauté is clear about one thing. "I don't like the comparison. I want to be remembered as Alexandre Léauté and not as the Léon Marchand of the Paralympics," he replies. "I'm a fan of that guy,but Léon Marchand achieved great things and Alexandre Léauté is going to achieve great things."

There is no doubt that he knows what he wants. He wants to be recognised in his own right. And this week he will begin to do so in the various events in which he will be competing.

Léauté was born in Saint-Caradec, in the heart of Brittany. Despite his disability, he began competing in non-disabled cycling events and then switched to velodrome events. He has no preference between the two disciplines and gives 100% in both.

Alexandre Léauté is one of France's most popular athletes. His character and charm have won over the public. His results are impressive. At his last world championships in Glasgow, he won five gold medals: three on the track (pursuit, omnium, kilometre) and two on the road (time trial and road race). He also won a sixth bronze medal in the scratch race.

A year later, just a few months before the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Léauté repeated the feat at the World Championships in Rio. He won four more world titles and two silver medals. Over the course of his career, he has amassed a total of 23 World Championship medals, 19 of which are gold. He has also won four Paralympic medals - one gold, one silver and two bronze - at the Tokyo 2020 Games. He also holds several world records. This has earned him the nickname "the ogre of the pedals", as some have dubbed him.