Q: Who is the favorite of these World Championships?
A: "Ah, it's not easy. Whoever is able to say who is going to win today, I'll pay him fries! The course is not easy with all these exits from turns, the restarts, it's very technique. You shouldn't be afraid to take the turns a little fast. And then there's the big bump and the little one that they'll do twelve times. You have to hit it! We have a bunch of champions who walk. Between Van der Poel, Pogacar, Evenepoel, Van Aert and ours who can mess things up."
Q: How do you see the French chances?
A: "If Julian (Alaphilippe) had been in the right conditions, he would have been the favourite. It's an ideal course for him. We don't really know where he is. We absolutely have to have one or two guys in front. Because Van Aert, he lost the World Championship last year and he will want to catch up. Revenge is a dish best served cold. There is Evenepoel too, they just have to not fight between them. We are going to have a very good World Championship. And whoever wins will be a tough guy."
Q: Do you enjoy following this new generation?
A: "What is fabulous with the newcomers is that they don't ask questions. No complexes! It's boom, boom, boom. Van Aert in Calais (during the last Tour de France), It was not planned like that. He put the gas and then he left. What still makes me dream about cycling today, that's it. Pogacar the same. When he attacks in the Alps in the rain , the stage which arrives at Le Grand-Bornand (on the Tour de France 2021). Great! He may have been fooled this year. But what a Tour de France! You never know what will happen. S 'they keep this spirit of attacking at all costs, we have a dream for ten years.
COMMENTS collected by Jacques KLOPP
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