Brioude (France) (AFP)

"We are a little ahead," said Marc Madiot, the boss of the Groupama-FDJ team whose leader Thibaut Pinot occupies the third place of the Tour de France after the first week.

QUESTION: Is the Tour ideally launched for Thibaut Pinot? ANSWER: "We've done eight days, we have not spent the mountains yet and there is still an individual time, we have not yet tackled the serious things ... Until now we had good appetizers, Well, but the main dish and the cheese are for later, what we have done so far is very good, I will not underestimate it or try to pretend that we do not We are not happy with what we have achieved, we are satisfied, we are even a little ahead of what we were hoping for, but there are two weeks of racing left. "

Q: Why this caution?

A: "There is no point in projecting too much forward, a bad puncture in the wrong place, a bad placement, and we go home empty-handed, we do not have the jersey, we are at the same level as other teams that can play an important role in the Tour, we will be satisfied with that.I have been in the business for 23 years, I am well placed to know that it can switch in one direction or another. I knew just about everything in the Tour, I ended up with my two sports car coaches behind the gruppetto and I was not sure if I could get in. Today it's a little nicer. "

Q: What do you explain the respect earned from the other teams, mentioned by Thibaut Pinot?

A: "It's not new, we've had that respect since we took part in the race, in the plain, we roll when we're with Demare, in the mountains, we do what we need to be We have to pay for the passes, and we prosecute them when we need them, so we sort of contribute to the overall racing actions, so it's a little easier to get in there. A maverick who comes from behind to take advantage of situations, at one time we had to be clear, we ran differently because we did not have the means to do what we do today. shooter and we were less well perceived by the people who rule the race, it's human.Now, we have a team that is able to register in the course of the race, to influence the game, and that's a little easier for us. "

© 2019 AFP