• Like every Monday,

    20 minutes

     gives the floor to a sports actor or actress who is in the news of the moment.

    This week, it's time for Pierre Rolland.

  • Aged 34, Pierre Rolland will be at the start of his 12th Tour de France on Saturday in Brest.

  • Without overall ambition, the rider of the B&B Hotel formation should still animate the race during the assembly stages.

  • He says he is very impressed by the young generation, led by the Pogacars, Van Der Poel and Evenepoel, who dominate the peloton.

His face has already been displayed in full for a few days in the streets of Brest.

Clinging to a pillow, Pierre Rolland quietly takes a nap on the facade of the head office of B&B Hotels, sponsor of his training.

A welcome little rest for the 34-year-old runner who will start his 12th Grande Boucle on Saturday.

Just before attacking Paris-Camembert last Tuesday, a race that he animated as usual, the French rider agreed to cut the fat with

20 Minute

s to talk about his ambitions and the young generation who took power in the peloton.

In what state of form are you approaching

the Tour 

?

The sensations are rather good even if the preparation was further disrupted by the Covid this year.

I started my season two months late because a lot of races were canceled or postponed in February-March.

I often have the same calendar from year to year, so here we necessarily lose our bearings.

It plays on the physical and the mental.

And then I was twice in contact with two weeks of quarantine to respect.

So I was not particularly early in my preparation but it went well on the roads of the Dauphiné.

You also made a short trip to the Tour of Rwanda with a stage victory at the end of the day ...

Yes, it's a race that is normally scheduled for February but has been postponed to May this year.

It fit well with my calendar and my preparation program because we evolve on plateaus between 1,600 and 2,000 meters above sea level.

The team won four more stages so it was really the perfect race to get back in and build some confidence.

What are your ambitions precisely on the Tour?

The objective is to win a stage, quite simply.

It's been a long time, since 2017 now, that I left the general classification in the big tours.

I was 8th in 2012, where I lost a lot of time in qualifying, and 10th in 2011 and 2015. But now I'm not interested in doing 16th or 18th because it's a lot of investment in the end. for places that remain anecdotal.

Because after 15th place, there is no longer anyone looking at the ranking.

Suddenly, I'm wasting time on purpose now so as not to be a danger for the general's leaders and to be able to carry myself to the front.

A Tour without an attack from Pierre Rolland wouldn't really be the Tour, would it?

It is indeed my way of running and seeing the bike.

I have this image of a very offensive runner but that doesn't bother me, it makes me laugh more than anything else.

And I prefer that rather than sounding like an anonymous or reserve runner.

In any case, at some point to win, you have to take your Loto ticket and take out the ball.

It was on the roads of the Tour that you revealed yourself in 2011. We imagine that this race has a special flavor for you?

It's THE race, the one that makes and breaks careers.

We are a real runner when we have done the Tour.

But afterwards it's nice when you shine there.

But when you endure on the roads of the Tour, it's the most horrible thing there can be.

There is nothing more difficult for a runner than being anonymous in the peloton and enduring the race every day.

I experienced this in 2017 when I was sick.

It was really a test mentally and physically.

You are 34 years old.

What is your view on this young generation with the Pogacar, Van Der Poel or Evenepoel who have taken power in the peloton?

Cycling remains a mature sport.

We see it with Valverde who is still very successful at over 40 years old.

But it is true that this new generation is very, very young and is shaking up all the codes.

They make us look like dinosaurs when before at 34, we were just in the prime of life.

They are revolutionizing the bike and that's good.

They are young and fun, that's what the bike needed.

Sport

After two years of absence, Chris Froome will be at the start of the Tour (but no longer as a leader)

Sport

The Tour de France will leave Spain and Bilbao in 2023

  • Tour de France

  • Brest

  • Cycling

  • Sport

  • Pierre Rolland

  • Bike

  • Cycling