Go. To escape. Dream. At the start of the school year. The Tour, which punctuates the birth of summer, blooms on the longest days and wakes up souls of children too long numb with the approach of the holidays, has never hoisted its sails so late, against the tide. The peloton has always waved in July according to a relief imagined for it. Its furrows are invariably dug in a land bitten by a blazing sun. Only wars have got the better of him since his outbreak in 1903. Nothing else until then had succeeded in shaking up his calendar.
Then a virus changed the game, the dates and maybe more. The 2020 edition, which starts this Saturday from Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), is therefore unique, special. It will undoubtedly prove to be unpredictable. We should be happy about it. First, because it exists. A chance for an event of this scale. The Tokyo Olympics and the Euro football, for example, were postponed by a year, in 2021. Then because it will shed a ray of soft light on this dark period when the figures are masked and the spirits are heated or resigned. The Tour is a beacon that speaks to our roots, cradles our dreams and memories and gives them an unchanging, reassuring character.
Less people, masked smiles
What will come of it? Nobody knows it. There will be fewer people on the side of the roads, less noise, an amputated caravan, masked smiles, runners locked in their protective bubble … But there will always be France seen from the sky, these magnificent images, these grandiose landscapes and these monuments built for eternity. There will also be life, families, parents or grandparents leaning over toddlers to show them, there, on the edge of the asphalt, that these exploits are born of passions.
And there will also be something to make our tricolor hearts vibrate. Like a year ago? Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot, our two heroes of July 2019, will be there. And they already seem pretty sharp, if we refer to the few days of racing lined up since the start of the season on August 1.
At 28, Julian Alaphilippe is no longer a young first, but he kept all his punch. He should still play tricks with the pack on his heels, more to collect stage victories than the yellow jersey, which it will be difficult to conquer on a quickly mountainous course. It is precisely this relief that Thibaut Pinot is looking for, with his Groupama-FDJ team built around him.
Egan Bernal, the logical suitor
At 30, the Franc-Comtois has revenge to take, first of all on himself. Hit in a thigh, he had given up to everyone’s surprise last year two days before the finish on the Champs-Elysées, when he seemed able to win the event. He will be one of the favorites, despite the small weakness seen during the last Dauphiné, finished in second place.
The blue-white-red battalion also has in its ranks Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Romain Bardet (AG2R) or Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samic) to attempt blows on steep paths. They will be served from the start of the Tour, this Sunday during the second stage, with the climbing of the Col de Turini in the Nice hinterland as a huge appetizer.
So, Pinot in yellow, Martin or Barguil with the peas of the best climber, Alaphilippe hunter of success? It’s going a bit fast. Egan Bernal, the defending champion, will be there too, pretending to be logical. Leader at 23 years of an invincible Ineos formation for five years and rid of the aging Froome and Thomas, the Colombian will nevertheless have to tame the armada Jumbo-Visma and his spearhead, Primoz Roglic, who promises to be a scarecrow. Strongly back to school.
