We couldn’t let him go like that, without a word, after so many years of secretly sighing when the month of July came, the month of all dreams and all disappointments. What if we finally had Bernard Hinault’s successor? We thought it, from 2012, and if we understood, then the hope has always remained to see it up there on the Champs-Elysées. Thibaut Pinot has never worn the Yellow Jersey, and yet, we will have accompanied each pedal stroke with the fervor of a first communion. The Groupama-FDJ rider deserved a tribute in four acts.
It wasn’t necessarily in the original plans of the most fanatics, because they imagined their colt resting a little after a big Giro to better enjoy a final Vuelta, but since everyone has decided that the tour of farewell would not be complete without the Tour de France, so you might as well go all out. For his last dance on this race which will have given him the wildest hopes and the worst disappointments, Thibaut Pinot can of course count on his many faithful to mark the occasion. “The enthusiasm is so huge that it’s very good like that. There’s the Markstein, all the passes around it, it’s cool”, observes Guy-Laurent, one of the three founding members of the Collective Ultras Pinot (CUP)which brings together the craziest of them.
Worship
The CUP, in reference to the name of the group of PSG supporters, of which Pinot is a fan, was born during confinement in 2020, when sport was at a standstill and there was nothing else to do but rehash the traumatic memory of the 2019 Tour. Guy-Laurent (39 years old), Humbert (34 years old) and Rémi (38 years old), friends via social networks, have decided to launch an account to the glory of their idol. For the first, from Giromagny, not even 30 terminals from Mélisey, the revelation goes back a long way. “It dates back to 2009, he wasn’t even a pro yet,” he says. One day I am in the Ballon d’Alsace with my father and in a hairpin, you literally see a rocket fly by. I look at my father, my father looks at me, and we say to ourselves “but what was that thing?” There you go, it was Thibaut Pinot. Since that day, I am. »
Like him, they are a crowd today to devote a real cult to him. Because that’s what it’s all about with the Franc-Comtois, which has aroused in some a passion inversely proportional to the tranquility it seeks. A contradiction told many times in recent years, the result of a curious mix between sporting potential, unique personality, feeling of fragility, panache victories and legendary setbacks.
“A kind of mourning to do”
“We love this guy even more after his troubles than after his victories, it’s very special. Each time we say to ourselves “it’s over, I’m stopping it hurts too much”, and then behind we leave with him, describes our member of the CUP while laughing. We share the same emotions as him because he is very expressive on a bike. In fact, he talks a lot as soon as he lifts his ass off his saddle. As soon as he gets up, it’s an indescribable feeling for me. It is neither explainable nor quantifiable, it is Thibaut what. »
How to survive, then, when the little prince will no longer be part of this cycling world? We asked for some advice psychologist Adam Tinouch, specialist in mourning and, to top it off, a great sports fan. Here is what he says about it:
- Accepting his departure: “It’s a kind of mourning to do, an acceptance of the end of an era. The sportsman not only represents the sport he exercises, but also moments of life for the fan, happy periods, other unhappy ones. Acceptance is saying ok, it’s the end of an era, but that doesn’t mean the end of everything, of my passion for cycling, of cycling as I love it. Just the end of a volume 1, if you will. »
- Make the most of the last moments: “The hardest thing is to stay in the present moment. We have the choice between making it a difficult thing by repeating to ourselves that it’s the last, or something much more positive by telling ourselves that it’s unique, that we must take advantage of it to the end, that every moment can be important. This precise moment when we will see Thibaut Pinot will be worth a thousand others. It will be unique, sacred. And we will accept the end better, because we will have lived this moment to the full. »
- Respect the rider’s choice: “You have to be careful not to make this end too heavy for him, remember that he doesn’t belong to us and simply show him the love we have for him. He gave us a lot of emotions, let’s give him back before he leaves. It would be the healthiest way to say goodbye. »
A priori, everyone seems on the right wavelength. Since the big start from Bilbao on Saturday, his fans have been spreading the word to regroup at specific points on the course. The CUP also often serves as a platform for exchanges for those who wish to meet up with insiders, like on Sunday in the Jaizkibel. No luck, after having accompanied the leaders the day before in the rugged final, Pinot this time stuck in the emblematic climb of the Basque Country. Not important. Whether he’s in front or behind, whether there are two, five, ten or 50 of us waiting for him, the main thing is to be there and yell a good shot “Allez Mon Grand”, the official rallying cry of the disciples. since Marc Madiot lost a vocal cord watching Tibo soar to victory atop the Tourmalet in 2019.
A real big party on the 20th stage
Since the Tour returned to France on Monday, there are very regularly signs on the side of the roads “Thank you Thibaut” – and even “Pinot, retirement is at 64”, Tuesday in the Gers. The little touches are everywhere. “There will be a bunch of banners and posters, and if in addition it works well from the Pyrenees, it could be quite crazy, prophesied before the start Matthieu Ladagnous, 38 and lifelong teammate at Groupama-FDJ . We have already seen him at the French championships, everyone was there to cheer him on and thank him. He has always been popular with the public. »
The one who will also retire at the end of the season dates the real start of Pinomania to 2014, when its young leader finished third in Paris. “It was already the case but then it exploded, he recalls. When he wore the white jersey for the first time, the next day at the hotel there was a riot, we were going to take the bus and you had hundreds of people waiting for him. “A craze which the interested party did not know what to do for a long time, except to put pressure on himself that he could not take.
Nine years later, nothing to see. The announcement of the end completely freed the Franc-Comtois, even when we talk about the Tour. “It warms my heart to see that everyone supported me in continuing with the Tour de France. This is also why I want to do well, he said last week to AFP. I want to enjoy, to take it as a party. That’s good, there’s a really good big one getting ready, on July 22, during the 20th and penultimate stage. A “Pinot turn” will be mounted about two kilometers from the top of the Petit Ballon, “a huge thing, with people, songs, flags, fumis, even if it should not be said too loudly”, announces Guy -Laurent. See you in the early morning, or even the day before for the most motivated, “to really enjoy the last of Thibaut on his land”.
A stage or the general to say goodbye?
The operation is set up jointly by the CUP and the French Federation of Lose (FFL), which over the years has also forged a real bond with one of its most worthy representatives. The latter was the first to laugh about it, moreover, which further boosted his rating. A departure will be organized from Paris very early in the morning to convey those who want. In total, at least 200 people (very low estimate) are expected to put on a monumental brothel. For those who would prefer the pilgrimage to Mélisey, a retransmission of the stage on a big screen will take place at the village stadium, “with refreshments, catering and a surprise from Thibaut at the end of the stage”, reports France Bleu.
It is impossible to know for the moment what this “surprise” may consist of. On the side of the CUP in any case, we expect nothing special in return from Pinot. Because celebrating Tibo well also means not invading his living space. “You have to be too intrusive with him. He’s a pretty wild person, you have to give him his square meter of peace, knows Guy-Laurent. It will depend on him, if he wants to come and see us or not. And who knows, he may have to go and rest quickly because he will play a good place in the general standings the next day on the Champs.
This sweet dream remains in a corner of the most boiling head. “Of course I would really like him to win a stage. At Markstein [la fameuse 20e étape], that would be an extraordinary goodbye. But I want him to cling to the general, insists our supporter. Thibaut, I liked him for the runner of great laps that he is, fighting for the general, not in fighter mode. A stage will score more, but a top 5 will mean that it weighs on the race. If you tell me he raises his arms and he finishes 150th overall, it’s not my Thibaut either. I have mixed feelings. »
And then it’s not as if Pinot himself hadn’t awakened our most primitive instincts by imagining that if he had “as good feelings as at the end of the Giro, there could be good surprises in Paris “. We did with much less than that to make a mess of ourselves at the start of a Tour, Thibaut, it’s not very nice to do that to us. For the moment, after the first big mountain stage on Wednesday, the people’s idol is a little behind, 23rd at more than 2’30 from the top 10. But the Tour is still very long. And then after all, it wouldn’t be a real last if we didn’t feel that little shiver that always has such an effect on us.
Episode 1: “Thibaut, it was pleasure cycling”, the nostalgia of an endangered cycling
Episode 2: “Oh damn, it doesn’t hold up”, they recount the heartbreaking abandonment of Pinot in 2019