Every day, the morning of Europe 1 looks back on one of the sporting events that make the news.

This Tuesday, Virginie Phulpin looks back on the courage shown by Thibaut Pinot.

Victim of a fall at the start of the Tour and back pain, he still wanted to continue the competition to cross the finish line on the Champs-Élysées when it would have been easier to give up knowing his victory now impossible.

The Tour de France begins today its home stretch, there are six days left to reach Paris.

There will be no French on the podium but Virginie Phulpin still wishes to express her admiration for the attitude of Thibaut Pinot. 

We dreamed of him as a winner, it's true, but let's appreciate the magnificent loser.

Thibaut Pinot will not be on the podium in Paris but he will go to the Champs-Élysées, in any case he will do everything for.

He makes it an obsession: not to give up.

Go to the end for himself, for his teammates and for the people who support him.

It's a question of self-esteem, love for cycling and love for France too.

And yes, it is admirable.

It would be easier for him to let it go by invoking his back injury and meet us later.

Frankly we would have nothing to reproach him with.

When you fall on the first day of the race, your back is loose and you no longer have any chance of a final victory, or even a podium, you would understand that he is passing his Tour de France.

But no, he says it is his duty to continue, even while suffering.

It makes Virginie Phulpin laugh, people who are ironic about her lack of mentality.

Really ?

When we are hurt in our flesh and in our soul, and that we find the strength to get on our bike every morning for three weeks to swallow hundreds of kilometers and uncategorized passes, Thibaut Pinot can give us some lessons. of mind.

It is undoubtedly also the painful memories of his abandonment of last year, so close to the goal, so inexplicable, which gives him the strength to continue.

Being a champion is not just climbing the top steps of the podium, it is also showing self-sacrifice.  

We can only admire the winners. 

What exactly would the radiant smiles of victors be worth without the grimaces of pain of those who fail?

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons in life is how an athlete accepts failure and the blows of fate without ever hiding.

Thibaut Pinot must have a heart as heavy as his legs in the evening when the end of the stages arrives.

Going from a leader whom we expect everything to a team member who tries to work for others is a lesson in humility.

And that's what sport teaches us, when we don't denature it.

We say get back in the saddle, right?

So, without a podium and with another missed opportunity, Virginie Phulpin wants to say thank you to Thibaut Pinot for the example he is giving us in this Tour de France 2020.