The surprise pair got the better of the Basque cousins. Florian and Tanguy lost after a final duel combining speed and logic. They were opposed to the surprise pair, who had just arrived in Beijing Express, Clement and Emeline. The two 21-year-old students returned to France proud of their journey and aware of having experienced something unique. “We are waiting for the call to leave, the suitcases are ready, they are just waiting for boarding”, hopes Florian who is already waiting to be contacted by the production for a next adventure. 20 minutes comes back with them on their journey in the M6 show.
Florian, you burst into tears when you discovered that Clément arrived before you in the final duel. Have you recovered from this defeat?
Florian: The defeat against Clément in the final duel touched me a lot. I did not expect that. I thought I was first and winner of this duel. Deep inside me, I had a little resentment at the time because we think that it may be over even if there is still the black envelope. Today I no longer have any resentment, the game is over and I have kept good ties with Clément and Emeline.
The secret choice designated the surprise pair for the final duel. Do you regret the result of your competitors’ vote?
F: For this secret choice, we decided to vote against Xavier and Céline because they had given us the black flag. I’m not disappointed with the choice the others made because they were the last to arrive in the game so it was obvious that the others were going to send them against us. We see that Clément is a sporty, competitive person, he speaks good Spanish so I thought it was going to be complicated. I think that if I had been opposed to Xavier and Céline I might have had more chances, but with “ifs”, we can remake the world…
Tanguy: The secret choice is a new rule that is reshuffling the cards at Beijing Express. Afterwards, when we are in the final duel, we have to go there and give everything. We do not look at the opponent.
Do you think the secret choice would have put you in danger if you hadn’t finished the stage with the black flag?
F: From the first episode, we saw that we were a pair to kill so we thought we were scary. We were always in battle with the teams at the front of the peloton. We thought we could go really far. On Beijing Expressthere are days that are worse than others and unfortunately the black flag got the better of us.
How did you react when you saw this new pair arrive in the competition after two stages?
F: When Stéphane tells us that there is a surprise pair we said to ourselves: “What is this new rule again? What I didn’t like was that I wasn’t expecting a new pair, so we were a bit on our ass… When we saw them arrive, they were bubbly, smiling and ready to fight. But it’s the rule, you have to fight, we were again seven pairs in the competition but we said to ourselves that we were going to have to work hard to win.
T: This new pair landed all fire, all flame. On our side, we already had seven days in the legs. Afterwards they were in great shape but on Beijing Express, it means nothing. We had the advantage of being already used to hitchhiking, of having asked questions to the locals, we knew how to approach them. We already had experience of the adventure, they were landing. Afterwards they did very well.
Was it obvious for you to make sure to eliminate them first?
T: With the other pairs, we did not agree. But it was obvious that everyone was disgusted and that we were going to send them to a final duel.
F: Our goal was to finish the race and be first in all cases.
You tried the casting several times before joining the show. What did your participation in Beijing Express represent?
F: We applied twice. It was our dream to participate in this kind of adventure, we always said that we would apply as soon as we had the majority. We were not disappointed because we were amazed, we were amazed. There was of course some stress from the race but it is a unique adventure.
T: We could have expected to be a little older. We wanted to live this adventure from an early age and it’s crazy to think that at 21 we were able to discover what Beijing Express.
It was your first experience outside Europe, did that destabilize you?
F: No. We are resourceful, we know how to get out of difficult situations. We also wanted to show our families that we are capable of doing things alone. They can be proud of us because we were able to get out of the family cocoon.
T: Speaking Spanish was an asset. When we found out we were selected, we really wanted to know the destination. When we landed in Bolivia, it was a dream for me.
What is the moment that has marked you the most?
F: What I liked the most was the zip line. It was a crazy thing because I had never done that. The landscapes also wowed us. I liked seeing Lake Titicaca, the Bolivian Far West, the Salar de Uyuni… We were lucky enough to be able to go to the salt desert in the middle of the night while enjoying a night in a hotel. It’s also a good memory because we were the only pair to be able to take advantage of that.
T: We met a lot of extraordinary people, to see that at the end of the world there is also a life with very warm people and we were amazed… My greatest pride is to have lived the adventure with my cousin .