After their flamboyant 2019 Tour, the French riders are again expected on the route of the Grande Boucle from this August 29.
Pinot wants his revenge
He left the 2019 Tour in tears and incomprehension of a muscle injury to a thigh that he still cannot explain. He returns, convinced that the wheel of his strange fate with the Big Loop will turn on the right side. Thibaut Pinot, sad hero of last summer, wants to believe that his dreams will not be in vain in 2020. The Franc-Comtois knows that he has the means to become the successor of Bernard Hinault, winner in 1985, there are thirty -five years! The mountainous course in the extreme, rough from the start, seems designed for his calves. Even the postponement in September, for him who hates extreme heat, can avoid these temperature contrasts which weaken his body.
This season, its progression is linear: 7th in the Tour de la Provence, 6th in the Tour du Var, 5th in Paris-Nice, 4th in the Tour d’Occitanie and 2nd in the Dauphiné. The mathematical conclusion for the Tour seems easy… But Pinot knows that a yellow jersey on the Champs is not just a matter of numbers. It is also and above all a story of luck and collective strength. On August 16, he paid for it: in the last stage of the Dauphiné, Pinot lost the general because his team, Groupama-FDJ, was not strong enough to block the race. Faced with the ogres Ineos and Jumbo, Pinot and his family will have to be cunning and opportunistic.
“My history with the Tour is complicated, with beautiful moments and suffering, he confides. By the end of my career, there will still be suffering, but also moments of joy and victories. What I want is that on the morning of the penultimate stage, in the Planche-des-Belles-Filles time trial, I am in a position to experience the best moment of my career: at least a podium . “
Alaphilippe wants to be forgotten
Loulou, his nickname, was the darling of France in July 2019. Goat à la d’Artagnan but rather Cyrano de Bergerac by his panache, Julian Alaphilippe wore the yellow jersey for fourteen days. He also won two stages, including the time trial in Pau, the first victory for a Frenchman in this exercise since the success of Jean-François Bernard in… 1987. And by dint of claiming that he does not ‘had no chance to go to the end, Alaphilippe almost managed a huge bluff. He did not lose his golden tunic until two days before the finish at the daunting Tignes stage that a storm had interrupted before its end.
This season, the puncher has not changed his speech: no question of targeting the general, rather a stage victory. But the Deceuninck-Quick Step rider does not hide his game. In 2019, he won twelve times. At the start of the season truncated by the Covid, Alaphilippe has not yet raised his arms. He lacked a few centimeters to keep his crown on the Milan-San Remo line and the energy to win twice in Megève on the Critérium du Dauphiné. Obsessed by the idea of carving out a huge prize list, he does not want, like last year, to finish the Tour exhausted. Also more closely watched by the rest of the peloton, the Frenchman warned: “I don’t want to make any promises on the Tour. I’ll run on instinct and we’ll see what happens. “
The other Habs on the lookout …
Behind the Pinot-Alaphilippe duo, other Blues want to exist on this Tour. Romain Bardet, for his last months with AG2R before leaving for the Germans of Sunweb, will be looking to win a fourth stage. Despite a polka-dot jersey won, he knows he missed his 2019 Tour. Moreover, he had planned not to run it this year. Brought back by the round of the Covid on the French roads, the Auvergnat wants to approach them without pressure. Another French asset, Guillaume Martin, who has been performing for several weeks with his new Cofidis team, will aim for a top 5 overall. We will also watch the performances of Warren Barguil, co-leader at Arkéa-Samsic with Nairo Quintana.
