Christophe Galtier, Losc coach, spoke to 20 Minutes -

DENIS CHARLET / AFP

  • Christophe Galtier gave a long interview to

    20 Minutes.

  • In this second part, the coach of Losc tells what he likes outside of football

  • A fan of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, Galtier also enjoys cycling, politics and rare family moments.

When he was offered an interview focused on the man and not the football coach, Christophe Galtier quickly agreed to

20 Minutes

.

Tuesday at the domain of Luchin, the coach of Losc, amazing leader of Ligue 1 who travels this Friday to Metz, came to tell for more than 50 minutes in the amphitheater which usually hosts press conferences.

After a first part devoted Thursday to his passion for football, here is the second part of the interview where Galtier tells what he likes apart from the round ball.

Cycling, Formula 1 but also politics, the Lille coach reveals himself as rarely.

Outside of football, what are your passions?

I tried to take up golf.

It was Alain Perrin (of whom he was the deputy) who initiated me when we started working together in the Emirates.

We stayed next to a golf course, we had time and we could even play there late at night since it was lit up.

One day, I succeeded and I found it extraordinary.

I got into it, I continued a bit in Saint-Etienne but I stopped because it's a passion that takes a lot, a lot of time.

And I don't have time.

So, I stopped and then I discovered cycling thanks to Julien Jurdie, sporting director of AG2R La Mondiale.

He was the one who introduced me to cycling.

What do you like about cycling?

It allows me to escape and to make intense efforts without having pain, to also burn calories.

At that moment, you don't think about anything.

You think about your body and the effort.

I thought it was enough just to get on a bike and pedal to move forward.

But that's not the bike at all (laughs).

I try to go out for one or more hours from time to time.

It allows me to discover beautiful places like the Stéphanois hinterland which is magnificent with beautiful coasts.

In the north, it's flat but it's windy.

I drive in France, I go to Belgium, I can go as far as the forest of Saint-Amand.

I like to do it alone but also in a group.

Do you watch the races?

Yes, I had the chance to follow a stage of the Tour de France in the AG2R car.

I really saw what this job was like.

And frankly, that's more than respect that I have for them.

People can say whatever they want is respect, respect, respect.

We are in the requirements and details of very high level sport.

I found it fascinating.

I often talk to Julien Jurdie about the similarities that exist in our management.

How to help the athlete to surpass himself.

The AG2R team during the Tour de France 2019 - Marco Bertorello / AFP

What other sport are you interested in?

I am passionate about Formula 1. I love the evolution of this sport.

The Netflix series on the subject is extraordinary.

In a team, there are no partners.

It's every man for himself but I understand it: there are 20 in the world to run.

Thanks to Gérard Lopez (ex-president of Losc), I attended Renault's tests last year at Castelet.

I was at the heart of technology.

We are down to the thousandth of detail.

It fascinates me because it plays out an inch at each turn.

It's full of technology but afterwards, you have to be in the car.

When we see Romain Grosjean's accident, we realize the danger they are running.

Do you have a favorite pilot?

I am Hamilton.

I think this guy is exceptional.

If I had the opportunity to spend an hour with him, I would have a lot of questions for him.

He is in the requirement, in the win.

When he says as a kid after a kart race that he wants to become the first colored man to race in F1 and be world champion, I find that incredible.

Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton's seven world championship titles - 20 minutes - Slideshow

Apart from sports, what do you like in life?

The sea. For all that it represents.

Like fishing and the memories I have with my father who is no longer there today and who rests at sea. I love the sea when it is calm, beautiful or raging.

The sea is part of my life and yet, after the Emirates, I went to Sochaux, Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Lille, cities where there is no sea. But I still need to go to my home. 'to recharge your batteries.

I live in Cassis which is an extraordinary village where I can go facing the sea and / or the sea. I find the Mediterranean to be magnificent and where it is most beautiful is in Corsica.

The sea is really a place where I will rest, relax.

It calms me down.

The Mediterranean Sea (illustration) - SYSPEO / SIPA

Do you read a lot?

No.

I don't read books but I read sports and general news.

On the other hand, a book marked me when I was 20 years old.

I had read "TV makes you crazy" by Bruno Masure who was then presenter of the JT of France 2. And I still have this book in mind.

When there is success, there are automatically screens, spotlights, media exposure… and all of that can drive you crazy.

You have to keep your feet on the ground and always have a perspective on events.

What are you watching on TV?

I like to watch documentaries about what's going on in the world.

I am often on Arte where the docs are very well done.

I often feel a prisoner of my profession and my passion, but when I go to Arte, I have an opening to the world.

And that interests me a lot.

Do you like politics?

Yes a lot.

I am very interested in the personality of the politician who presents himself.

I love debates and especially the presidential face-to-face.

I am not in what they say but in what they are.

I look at it on a tactical level: how they are physically, how they are going to seek the gaze of the other, how they are going to get the other person out of their hinges.

Do you know how to place yourself on the political spectrum?

I don't have a label.

I grew up in a right-wing family but I don't believe I am a right-wing man.

I don't think I'm a leftist either.

I am very generous, I like sharing but I am attached to the man.

I have to be touched by him or her.

I am also interested in it because the future of my country interests me.

And there, what happens to the current president, for whom I have a lot of consideration as a man, is difficult.

To come to power as it did, you have to be brilliant.

The 2017 presidential debate between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron - STRINGER / AFP

And in that period, everything I hear irritates me a little.

No politician has lived through such a period.

We don't know where we're going.

I think the government is coping well even if it makes mistakes, especially the one with the masks.

But we are the only country in the world where we have so much economic aid, where access to care, tests and vaccines are free.

It should not be forgotten.

Are you a fan of social networks?

Not at all.

I think this is the biggest bullshit we could have invented.

It makes people stupid because they think that with their tweet, they can influence opinion.

I think that makes the man stupid.

I don't even tell my players about it because it's a lost cause.

You have traveled a lot in your profession, which country did you like the most?

I have been to the Emirates, Greece, Italy, England, several regions of France.

It allowed me to go and take in each place what is the best of each.

I find it very enriching.

I tell my three boys;

“Travel, travel” but hey, they never travel.

It's good to go and see what's going on elsewhere, to discover different cultures, to exchange ideas, to share.

We always retain only the positive and a great open-mindedness.

But in everything I have done, I find that the most beautiful country remains France.

Do you speak foreign languages?

I spoke Italian well but I no longer practice it.

I learned that pretty quickly on my way there.

I understand it well but I lost it by not practicing anymore.

Besides, I also have conversations in English but I don't practice enough.

I try to watch films in original version to work and progress.

It is important in a club to communicate with foreign players.

You were talking about films in original version, do you like cinema?

I love that.

I like going to the movies.

In Saint-Étienne, I went there once a week.

I even remember seeing "American Sniper" on a Monday at 2pm.

I was alone in the room.

It was extraordinary.

I always told myself that I was going to set up a movie theater in my house.

I had discovered that, a long time ago in the South at Marcel Desailly's who had made a cinema at his place.

Today, it is feasible to do it in an apartment because the technology allows it.

I love watching a good movie on a nice TV with good sound.

Apart from Science-fiction films, I like everything and especially French cinema.

I am very French anyway.

We feel that you love your country very much ...

Ah yes.

I like France.

It's a beautiful country.

There is the sea, the mountain, the countryside, the forest: there is everything.

And I love the differences between regions and people.

For example, there is a gap between northerners and southerners.

In the South, you don't know each other but whatever, we give you a kiss.

And 48 hours later, the same person can say bad things about you.

It's very folklore, it speaks a lot in the South.

In the North, there is more restraint, more respect.

But once you get into the home, it's for life.

I met people here in Lille that I had known thirty years ago when I was a Losc player.

What do you like about Lille?

I love to live.

I love Old Lille?

I lived there when I was a gamer in the rue du Pont Neuf.

And today, I live 600 meters away.

It is not by chance I wanted to live there in Lille.

I also wanted my wife to discover Lille.

And she loves it.

I think it's a beautiful city.

The people are nice, straightforward.

Eating meals with northerners is extraordinary.

They have this quality of knowing how to receive.

Among the people of the North, the table is something sacred, in the South it is casual.

Lille, June 22, 2017 - Shopping streets of Old Lille - Olivier Aballain / 20 Minutes

Does the French art of living speak to you?

I like good wine, I really like champagne, but I'm not the type of person who will buy cases of it.

What I like about the table is the conviviality and the sharing.

It doesn't matter what's on the plate.

I like being at the end of the table to see everyone happy and enjoy it with my friends and family.

The family, it is said a lot that it is your wife who drives you, is it true?

She does not like this term but it is she who manages the day-to-day.

She manages the children, the grandchildren, the house.

With the progress of my career and my course, she puts a hyperprotection around all that.

She is very careful with the environment.

When we meet, I have seen for several seasons who are the people around the table.

And above all, she is able to tell me what others cannot tell me.

Whether it's my reactions, my interviews, my behavior.

Christophe Galtier and his wife - Franck Fife / AFP 

For example ?

A few weeks ago, I went nuts when I called the referee dishonest.

It cost me a suspension.

A few hours later, she came to me and said "What have you done?"

You're ridiculous ".

Afterwards, she likes football but she is not a connoisseur.

She knows that it is a difficult job in which there is a lot of pressure.

She makes sure not to add more and, on the contrary, to be a bit of a safeguard.

She is never in euphoria or in depression.

She is in an even mood.

You have a 7 year old granddaughter.

What kind of grandfather are you?

(His eyes light up).

Grandpa is something extraordinary.

I am a distant grandfather because my granddaughter lives in Ajaccio with my son and his wife.

It makes me sad that I don't see him often enough, but he's the princess of the family.

She calls me Papi.

If there is anyone who can make me do anything, it's her (smile).

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