With 31 riders and 5 teams, France will be well represented on the 2023 edition of the Grande Boucle. But, despite the recent progress of David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), 4th in the Tour last year and second in the last Paris-Nice as well as the consistency of the experienced Romain Bardet (DSM), who is about to take his tenth start, the chances of seeing a tricolor runner raise his arms on the Champs-Elysées on July 23 remain slim, which would thus prolong the scarcity to 38 years.
Hinault last winner
Indeed, the last Frenchman to have won the most prestigious of stage races remains Bernard Hinault, winner of his fifth and last Tour de France in 1985. A success which had allowed the Badger to enter a little more into the legend of the race by becoming, tied with Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx (then later, with Miguel Indurain), the record holder for the number of successes on the Tour. The Frenchman, strongly challenged by his American teammate Greg LeMond, had all the same raised his arms on the Champs-Elysées with two stage victories and a double Giro – Tour de France as a bonus.
No one imagined then that no tricolor runner would win the race. Indeed, when Hinault won in 1985, it was the fifth consecutive blue victory. Better, France remained on nine successes during the eleven previous editions of the Tour de France. In parallel with the five triumphs of Hinault (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985), Laurent Fignon had been crowned in 1984 and 1985.
Previously, Bernard Thévenet had put an end to the domination of the “Cannibal” Eddy Merckx by winning in 1975 and 1977. The domination of Anquetil, titled five times (1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964) had also marked the spirits. In all, with 21 different winners and 36 victories, France remains, despite the recent shortage, the most successful country on the Grande Boucle.
Five dolphins since
Bernard Hinault (right) sold his yellow tunic to Greg LeMond (left) in 1986. [Photo via MaxPPP]
And since ? Many Blues have come very close to success, starting with Bernard Hinault himself, second behind LeMond for his last participation in 1986. Subsequently, four Frenchmen finished the race on the second step of the podium. The most famous of them remains Laurent Fignon, overtaken by Greg LeMond on the occasion of the last stage in 1989, the time trial on the Champs-Elysées. The Frenchman, who was 50 seconds ahead of his rival at the start of the clock, had lost for eight seconds, the smallest gap in the history of the Tour, and never recovered from his failure .
It then took eight years to find Richard Virenque, stage winner and crowned best climber, who finished the 1997 edition as the runner-up to the German Jan Ullrich, well ahead, for more than nine minutes.
In 2014, Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot had achieved a performance more seen for thirty years by positioning themselves both on the podium, respectively in second and third place, quite far behind Vincenzo Nibali (7′39 for the ‘one, 8′15 for the other).
The last tricolor dolphin is called Romain Bardet. Right in the heart of Christopher Froome’s domination of the Tour, the 26-year-old rider won a heroic stage between Albertville and Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc in 2016, which allowed him to take second place overall with two stages to go. . Position that the French did not let go, before getting back on the podium, in third place this time, the following year.
The epics of Voeckler and Alaphilippe
If they did not get a podium on the Grande Boucle, Thomas Voeckler and Julian Alaphilippe came very close to ultimate success. In 2011, the “Voecklermania” took over the French roads while the Europcar rider wore the yellow jersey for ten days, before exploding during the 19th day of competition on the queen stage of Alpe d’Huez . Voeckler had completed his exceptional exercise in 4th place overall, 3′20 behind the winner, Cadel Evans.
Similar scenario for “Alaf” in 2019: leader of the Tour for fourteen stages, the double world champion was also deprived of his property during the 19th stage between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and the Col de the Iseran, stolen by the future winner, Egan Bernal.
