Camille Pic opened her 100% women’s cycling school on March 8, 2025.A symbolic date for someone who fell in love with cycling and chose to dedicate her life to it, committed to encouraging more and more women to get on their bikes.
Photo: Arthur Ghilini
Back to the roots, one pedal stroke at a time
Camille Pic’s career seemed mapped out: after studying communication and fashion design, she began her professional life by landing several prestigious positions in the luxury industry. Until the day she got on a road bike for the first time.
When she recalls that moment, her eyes light up: the feeling of freedom, speed, and power completely won her over. She remembers, “I only needed to ride three times before admitting to myself that I didn’t want to run anymore, I didn’t want to swim anymore — I only wanted to ride on the road.”
And so she did. Gradually, she gave up running, then triathlon, to focus solely on cycling. She bought her first gravel bike and set off to ride across Argentina for a month.
“When I think back on it, I tell myself it was really bold! I had no mechanical skills, I didn’t know how to plan routes, and Argentina isn’t a cycling country at all. But I needed that at that point in my life.”Back in France, she made another shift: she left the luxury sector to work for two major names in the sports industry. She took the opportunity to move from Paris to northern France, then on to the Basque Country. “There, I never stopped riding. It’s a perfect playground for cycling. It’s stunning. You can find flat roads as well as rolling terrain.”
But after a few years, she took yet another turn…“Circumstances and… love!” she admits. This time, she settled in Chamonix, after a brief return to Paris. Camille is an Alpine native. Reconnecting with a love from her youth made her realize that what she truly needed was a return to her roots and to focus on what genuinely made her feel good.
“At that time, I was working in fintech and it just didn’t suit me. My partner, on the other hand, was already making a living from his passion, he’s a ski instructor. He asked me if I wouldn’t rather be outdoors, on my bike, all day. Obviously, who wouldn’t want that? After almost ten years of always doing more, and expanding my practice to include mountain biking, I took the question very seriously. For him, it was obvious. He told me that by moving to Chamonix, I could make it my profession and become an instructor. It was a huge life change, but I started looking into it anyway. I researched how to finance my training. I met lots of people already in the program so they could explain how it worked and what opportunities it led to and I went for it.”
GLOW: making women’s cycling shine
Camille Pic doesn’t like taking the easy route. Just a few weeks after starting her training, she became pregnant. “I was only able to validate part of my diploma because the final oral exam was scheduled on my due date,” she admits with a big smile. “I took time to welcome my daughter, and postponed my exams by six months.”
During that time, Camille didn’t just adapt to her new life as a parent. “It was during the training that I met Lucile, who is now my business partner. She’s also from Chamonix, and we immediately clicked. We quickly started wondering what we could do with our diplomas. There were several options around us: working with agencies, partnering with shops, or going freelance. What we really wanted was to build our own project. During the training, we taught quite a bit in primary schools. At that age, girls and boys ride bikes exactly the same way, there’s absolutely no gender difference. But in clubs, at the same age, there are no girls anymore. Or if there are two and one quits, the other often stops as well. Lucile and I are passionate. Cycling gives us so much that we found it a shame that only little boys were doing it. That creates massive skill gaps in adulthood. We wanted to fill that void, and that’s how Glow was born our cycling school dedicated to girls and women.”
When asked whether her cycling school has a militant mission, Camille hesitates.
“It’s a complicated question, because Lucile and I wouldn’t answer it the same way. But still, what we want is to see more women on bikes. We want them to feel comfortable. We want to bring them together. Our rides and workshops aren’t women-only, though. We’re partnered with the only shop in France that sells exclusively women’s cycling apparel. So yes, most of the people who contact us are women. But because we work with a shop that has strong visibility and communicates a lot about its events, we also get men joining our rides and mechanical workshops. We’re open to everyone, we’re just careful that men don’t take up space that isn’t theirs, like mansplaining how to change an inner tube. We explain our approach and our rules, and it works really well.”
Photo: El Flamingo Films
Building confidence for smarter performance
With Glow, Camille Pic is shaping a different vision of performance. “For now, our audience isn’t made up of people who are already highly technical riders. We speak to those who want to start, to discover, to build confidence. Lucile and I offer them a reassuring teaching approach and a caring, supportive atmosphere.”
Through this project, Camille aims for what she calls smart performance. “Cycling is still an injury-prone sport. Chasing performance at all costs, without first building confidence, is the best way to get hurt. Trying to tackle a technical MTB section you don’t yet master, or pushing too hard after learning a new skill — that’s when crashes happen. On the other hand, evolving in a supportive environment, where people are allowed to go a little slower, helps consolidate the basics. In the long run, it’s far more effective and much safer.”
Camille adds, with clarity: “I’ve prepared for many ultra-distance races. I know how much work and effort it takes just to make it to the start line. So adding the pressure of a podium or a record on top of that? No thanks. Performance has to adapt to each individual’s level. If you’ve been riding for a year and you can take your hands off the bars — that’s performance. This summer, I’ll be riding L’Étape du Tour Femmes. I’ve done tougher events before, but in the past three years I’ve gone through two pregnancies and two postpartum periods. I’ll already be thrilled if I make it to the finish line. And for the future, we’ll see. You never know what life has in store. In any case, everything I do, I do above all to be proud of myself. That’s my main motivation.”
For aspiring cyclists, Camille’s advice is simple.
“Mastering bike mechanics and setup is absolutely essential. Having a bike that fits you and is properly adjusted makes all the difference in terms of injury prevention. You need to pay close attention to saddle shape and height. At Glow, we know how to assess this: pain in a specific part of the knee means your saddle is too low; pain elsewhere means it’s too high. Pain in your fingers? The handlebar position might not be right. Taking care of yourself in cycling starts with knowing your equipment and knowing how to adjust it. I’m also trained in naturopathy, so nutrition and hydration are central for me. During a ride, I recommend choosing what brings you pleasure, I sometimes eat mini sausages myself. But I really focus on raising awareness about what to eat before, and especially after, a ride to support recovery. I regularly organize workshops on these topics. We also talk a lot about massage with our participants, using treatments like RGENtec to relieve joints and soothe friction-related irritation.”
To learn more about Camille, visit her website: www.camillepic.com
