Oh, casual, casual, that Monsieur Pogacar. It looks like a father on his way to a picnic. So there the Slovene is cycling along the Avenue de la République in Clermont-Ferrand, he has stuffed a large baguette in the back pocket of his shirt and he takes it out during the ride and takes a good bite of it. And so that everyone can see how casual this Pogacar is, he has this sequence published on Instagramaccompanied by music by Plastic Bertrand (Ça plane pour moi) and supplemented with a sentence that sounds as if he ordered the bread himself: “Une baguette s’il vous plaît.”
Now, anyone who doesn’t just look at the sport of cycling on the surface, but takes a closer look, knows that baguettes (and water and fiber-free chicken) are absolutely sufficient to survive the tour ordeal. But a two-time Tour winner isn’t going to eat just any ready-made white bread, so let’s see how it tastes in the store where Pogacar shops.
The colleagues from Dauphiné spotted a shop called Akademik Cafés on Rue Lamartine as a place to buy baguettes, so we strolled by. It’s a small, very modern café, with two bicycle symbols hanging above the door next to the name – well, it’s that easy to charm a Pogacar. And in fact, the waiter and boss assure me in good faith that Pogacar was here. Normally they would have a day off on Monday, but they would have opened for Pogacar and his team and three other teams. Only: baguettes, unfortunately they don’t exist here, the Slovene must have gotten them from the bakery across the street.
So over to the boulangerie, which is right on the street where the paddock was set up for a few hours in the morning, i.e. the area where the teams prepare for the start of the stage. Then there are 22 buses, umpteen cars and people, it’s a huge hustle and bustle, and only a few hundred meters away is the big team presentation on the city’s market square. So into the bakery: Is this really the shop where Pogacar bought the baguette? sorry, who? Well, that Pogacar. Pogattchar, Pogachaaar, Pooogazar. It doesn’t help, not even a consultation with three other salespeople. Maybe the boss knows something? Pogattchar. Pogachaaar, Pooogazar. No, sorry. Outside the front door, the Tour de France causes the greatest hustle and bustle imaginable for three hours, but even in France there are more important things. Well then, un pain au chocolate, s’il vous plaît.