They should all have been there in the starting blocks. Stressed out but full of hope, so focused on their goals that they would have been insensitive to the charms of the Riviera. But they will not be there in Nice this Saturday, June 27. Nothing more normal. The grand start of the Tour de France has been postponed to August 29 in the same place due to the Covid-19 pandemic that raged on the planet. The heroes of the Great Loop, and all those they train in their wake have to do elsewhere but they only think about that.
Thibaut Pinot is at home in Haute-Saône, where he is preparing his revenge on the fate that saw him give up two days before the finish when he was in the position to win the yellow jersey last year. Julian Alaphilippe, the number one host, hones his calves in the Alps. Romain Bardet is on an internship in Haute-Loire, in Chambon-sur-Lignon. Bernal, the title holder, Thomas, his predecessor, Froome returning, all Ineos, are also skimming the different massifs for this race of which they all dream.
Alexandre Pasteur “has the blues”
But the champions are not the only ones to be obsessed by this Tour which had not missed a single meeting in July since the war 39-45. “I can’t stop thinking about it, loose Alexandre Pasteur, who comments on the test for France 2. It makes me weird. I should be in Nice, shooting subjects, preparing for departure with the whole team and I will spend the weekend quietly at home in Grenoble with my wife and daughter. It is the first time in eleven years that I will not be on the Tour. I have a little blues. “
However, the journalist will not remain inactive. He has planned reports and reconnaissance of the route. “And then, I will let off steam on my mountain bike, it will help me to forget it a little. During confinement, I was unable to watch the retrospectives on the Tour. It was too hard. As soon as one edition is finished, I think of the next one. It is as if I entered religion. As a follower, July represents a parenthesis where we no longer realize anything. The only certainty for him: the proposed plateau will be magnificent in September. “Without doubt the most difficult of the last fifteen years,” he specifies. There will be a strong expectation from the public even if, given the period, the craze may be less significant. “
No runners, no observers, no caravan either … No idols to worship. Bernard Hinault, winner of the prologue in 1981 in Nice, was to be present this Saturday on the Promenade des Anglais. He will be at home in Brittany mowing his lawn. Only one exception will escape the rule. Christian Prudhomme, the director of the event will be there to keep in touch with local elected officials. He will repeat the operation on the Tour route throughout the month. While waiting for the real one.
