What, another six months to wait? It's way too long but we have no choice: we will have to be patient before we can celebrate the coronation of Thibaut Pinot on the Tour de France. Because yes, it is announced. Since the revelation of the route in October, the France of cycling has been burning to relive the emotions of last July, but with a happy ending this time. And the interested party continues to claim that he is no longer afraid of his shadow when he runs in France and that he feels the shoulders to go there, to tease us even more. Before leaving for a 17-day course on the Teide volcano in Tenerife, with four Groupama-FDJ teammates (Gaudu, Molard, Roux), the Franc-Comtois spoke about all of this, and his year 2020 in a way general, in an interview with AFP.
Six months later, how about the 2019 Tour?
It is a very big disappointment. After, you have to digest, you have to move on, I will recover as I have always recovered from my sports disappointments.
What do you get out of it?
The Tour took me to another dimension, it's really not what I'm looking for but it's there, and I live with it. They recognize me wherever I train, and it no longer scares me. People are nice. Before, I was wilder.
Were you happy on the Tour?
On the Tour last year, I was happy to be there, it showed. I wonder why I was not (before), maybe because I could not bear the pressure, the pressure that I put myself above all. It took me longer than some runners. Basically, I was not born a leader, I am rather discreet. It did not necessarily please me to be highlighted, pointed out. I just wanted to train and win races. I have a life that I didn't think I had at the start of my career.
Should Champagne already be kept cool for Pinot on the Tour 2020? via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/53y8j7bIow
- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) October 15, 2019You have multiple goals in 2020. Do you set priorities?
I find it hard to put a hierarchy. It is sure that the Tour de France prevails over the rest. After, Paris-Nice, an Olympic Games, a world championship… I want to be a hundred percent on these races. I want to be as high as possible.
Unlike in previous years, your racing program is mainly French ...
I rediscovered the pleasure of running in France. I realized that there were very nice races. Before, I found that the routes were more interesting abroad but, for two or three years, I wanted to return to France. I take a risk to do Paris-Nice because it is not especially my field but at 30 years old, it is the right time to discover these races.
Even if the expectation about you is very high?
I also took a lot of experience. I was fleeing France a little for that. Today, the expectations of the public and journalists are not an obstacle to my results. At the Giro (2018) at the Tour (2019), I took two beautiful slaps. After that, we are no longer too afraid to miss.
Have you found the causes of these physical problems?
Pneumonia and a thigh injury are completely different things. I think I have a rather fragile body compared to some. In the Tour, it's an injury that I had never felt, it may be an injury that I will never have again. We still don't know where it came from, and it went as it came. It's a little weird. I tell myself that one day it will turn out and I will finally have my chance to finish a great tour in good conditions.
Six days after the Tour, there will be the online race for the Olympic Games. What importance do you attach to it?
Not doing the Games would really miss my career. I don't want to miss this opportunity. It will surely be the last opportunity to make the Games. In Rio, I had to refuse the selection because I was sick and it remains a disappointment.
How do you see this sequence, so close to the end of the Tour?
Almost all of the favorites will leave the Tour. Six days later, there is usually San Sebastian and I have already had legs like I rarely have in the year. It will be a question of recovery, especially of mind. Do not let go after the Tour, do not disconnect in the head ... France will have one of the best teams on paper, the strongest will be the leader but, for now, it is not my concern.
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Tour de France 2019: "Cycling, for me, it's the Tour" ... Disappointed but not disgusted, Thibaut Pinot is already hungry for revenge
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