It was announced, and the first two weeks of the Tour de France kept their promises: for Thibaut Pinot’s last dance, the people of France decided to send the watts. Whether he breaks away or is at the back of the peloton, the Groupama-FDJ rider is clearly the most encouraged on the side of the roads since the big start on July 1. Which will always surprise him.
“The madness has gone up a notch compared to other years. It even scares me a little, I who am a little wild and shy. But fortunately they are there. The pleasure that I find in the Tour de France, it is there, ”he told a few journalists during the rest day on Monday.
“Abroad, they must not understand too much”
The Franc-Comtois sees signs to its glory popping up all over the place, each crazier than the other, from “Wonder Pinot” to “Retirement at 33, Pinot President”… “Abroad, they must not understand too much, he observes. By the side of the road, I’m far from the best. And yet, I am one of the most encouraged. I don’t have the track record of a Julian (Alaphilippe), I don’t think I marked the decade of cycling. They must be a few in the peloton, all the same, watching his three stage victories on the Grande Boucle, his final podium on the Champs and his Tour of Lombardy with envy.
On the road in any case, the Franc-Comtois is doing what he can to live up to this support. He was on the right track twice, in Beaujolais during the 12th stage on Thursday, and on the road to Saint-Gervais Mont-Blanc on Sunday. But he lacks for the moment a bit of legs and the little bit of luck that goes well to succeed in concluding. “I want to give them back even more this year,” he admitted. Now, there is a good chance that my turn has passed. It might have been too good to win on my last Tour. Many people dreamed of it but I knew it was going to be hard. I’m a little notch below what it takes. »
Hop hop hop, none of that Thibaut. There is still plenty to have fun in this third week, especially during the penultimate stage, Saturday, between Belfort and Markstein, very close to his home. His supporters will also be waiting for him en masse in the Petit Ballon to say goodbye to him as it should. Whatever happens in any case during these last days, nothing can make him reconsider his decision to stop at the end of this season. “There really is no longer any doubt. I think I have covered the question. Mentally, I’m ready to quit. No victory will change my mind,” he insisted.
When all that is over, in October, the little prince of Mélisey will go “to the quiet garden, all alone, to find silence”. Asked about what he liked about runner Thibaut Pinot, the Franc-Comtois mentioned the “slightly quirky side” of someone “who simply lives off the bike” and not “like a monk” only focused on performance. “Today I think there are many who have simply lost this notion of living”, he insisted: “it would be inconceivable to have a rider like me in certain teams”. He might be surprised if we organized a poll in the peloton.