Thibaut Pinot, annoyed after the arrival of the Tour de France in Loudenvielle, Saturday.

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AFP

  • The first high mountain stage of this Tour de France was fatal for Thibaut Pinot.

  • The leader of Groupama-FDJ, finally poorly recovered from his fall on the first day, finished 23 minutes behind Nans Peters, the winner of this superb afternoon between Cazères-sur-Garonne and Loudenvielle.

  • At 30, Pinot undoubtedly missed a major opportunity to succeed Bernard Hinault, the last Frenchman in yellow in Paris, in 1985.

From our special correspondent in Loudenvielle,

“Okay, we're going back to Paris.

This sentence from a colleague in the press room, in Loudenvielle, is pronounced in the tone of a joke.

But it says a lot about the impact of Thibaut Pinot's failure this Saturday in the climb to Port de Balès, the first of the five uncategorized passes of this Tour de France.

On arrival, 40 terminals later, the leader of Groupama-FDJ is 23 minutes behind the winner Nans Peters who, like the leader of the general classification Adam Yates, was already on the official podium when the ordeal of the Franc- Comtois has ended.

Pinot was only 13 seconds away from the English yellow jersey a few hours earlier, at Cazères-sur-Garonne.

Just after the abandonment of his colleague William Bonnet, it is therefore the boss of the team who "stuck", weighed down by back pain, during the first Pyrenean stage.

"I would like to but I can't," he seemed to say, between two sighs, to his lieutenants who remained at his side.

A very involuntary tribute to Annie Cordy and to the words of her

Maid of the Curé

…

Thibaut Pinot is no longer in the yellow jersey group.

He is surrounded by all his teammates.

pic.twitter.com/wCOgJH9qJs

- Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team (@GroupamaFDJ) September 5, 2020

Falling three kilometers from the finish of the first stage in Nice, Pinot lost his illusions a week later, when he seemed to have regained good form confirmed during the terrible stage on Friday between Millau and Lavaur.

"On the flat, we manage to hide the misery but in the mountains it is more difficult", dropped Marc Madiot, its sports director.

“I have so much back pain that I have no strength, I could not pedal, let loose the unfortunate hero on arrival, on France Télé.

I will not leave the Tour, in any case I had this idea, I wanted to apologize to my teammates and those who support me.

"

Thibaut Pinot's reaction after his terrible failure on this first Pyrenean stage: "It may be a turning point in my career" # TDF2020



▶ Follow Vélo Club live: https://t.co/FXbMjUcgXu pic.twitter. com / iq8KPkmRQ8

- France tv sport (@francetvsport) September 5, 2020

"It's a lot of failures for everyone, for the team, for me," he continued, totally dejected.

It may be a turning point in my career.

" In other words ?

“It's too many failures, I've always said that cycling is about having fun, winning races.

“In the heat, Pinot has not announced that he will not return to the Grande Boucle.

But…

2014 hopes

At 30, he will therefore not win the Tour de France 2020. And perhaps he will never win it, while his third place in 2014 had given rise to somewhat crazy hopes in the French cycling mundillo, which waits for a Habs to arrive in yellow in Paris since Bernard Hinault 35 years ago.

Sixteenth in 2015, Pinot has not finished the Grande Boucle since: non-starting before the 13th stage in 2016, abandons in 2017 and 2019 framed by a forfeit in 2018. Last year, a tear in the left leg had forced to retire two days from the end, when he could dream of a new podium.

This new episode will maintain the legend of Pinot the unlucky, to compare with that of Gasquet the unfulfilled hope, two figures installed at the top of the Pantheon of a certain French sports romanticism, where the winners do not necessarily have their place.

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