Can a French rider be privileged on the Tour on July 14?

• The 12th stage of the Tour de France will link Briançon (Hautes-Alpes) to L'Alpe d'Huez (Isère) this Thursday.

  A mythical arrival which brings back good memories to the Frenchmen Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot.

• It is especially the date of July 14 that holds our attention, as to its impact on the strategy of the teams: do they take into account the "extreme motivation" of the French riders for this national holiday?

• From the general manager of Groupama-FDJ Marc Madiot to the Dutchman Aike Visbeek, performance manager for Team Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, views diverge on the subject.

For five years, David Moncoutié's laptop has been heating up much less as July 14 approaches.

In 2005, the former Cofidis cyclist (from 1997 to 2012) had expanded, in Digne-les-Bains, the long list of French riders who won a stage on the Tour de France on this national holiday.

“It was only after this victory that I realized its enormous impact, due to the 14-July effect, he confides.

This success really marked the public and the media contacted me enormously for ten years.

Taking a step that day is even stronger.

»

Then Warren Barguil went there, on July 14, 2017 in Foix, to become the fifth and (current) last Frenchman in thirty years (with Laurent Jalabert twice, Laurent Brochard and Richard Virenque) to win the Grande Boucle for this special date.

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Finally, to what extent does July 14 invite itself into the reflections of the 22 teams competing this Thursday for an arrival, which is moreover mythical, in L'Alpe d'Huez (Isère)?

“We will above all seek to make riders aware of the sounding board that would accompany a victory, on this special day, in the eyes of the entire French public”, recalls Samuel Dumoulin, sports director of B & B Hôtels-KTM.

Do not count on Marc Madiot, general manager of Groupama-FDJ, to maintain a form of phantasmagoria around July 14.

“That was good fifty years ago!

»

“The teams are more and more international and it is so difficult today to win a stage that we do not enter into these considerations, he assures.

It may have been the case a long time ago, but personally, I never developed a tactic especially for a Frenchman because it was July 14th.

It is for me a stage among the others.

Believing that the French riders are more active on that day is like thinking that the regional of the stage will come out of the peloton as soon as he goes home.

It was good fifty years ago, that!

»

Thank you Marc for trying to ruin our topic of the day.

But Aike Visbeek, performance manager for Team Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, would almost save the day: “We take into account in our plan that the French are still extremely motivated for that day.

If, for example, we had had two climbers of equal level, including a Frenchman, before this stage in L'Alpe d'Huez, we would have turned to our French rider.

It's normal, we are looking for the best opportunity to win, and this day is so special for the French "...

Towards a “icing on the cake” for a Frenchman this Thursday?

Bad luck for rider Adrien Petit, the only tricolor of Team Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, this is certainly not a stage profile for him.

On the other hand, Samuel Dumoulin unsurprisingly thinks spontaneously of Pierre Rolland, prestigious winner at L'Alpe d'Huez in 2011, just like Thibaut Pinot in 2015: “Pierre must have had this stage in the back of his mind since the start of the Tour.

It is clear that it would be the icing on the cake for him to win it on such a day.

This was also the reflection of Aike Visbeek in 2017, when he was the head of the Sunweb team of a certain Warren Barguil.

The former Dutch cyclist remembers perfectly how he tried to put his rider in the best position for this stage between Saint-Girons and Foix.

We know that there is no need to motivate the French for that day.

But on the other hand, they are nervous and my priority was to relieve the pressure that Warren could put on himself.

He was our leader and he knew that this stage was perfect for his qualities.

To relax him, I threw jokes at him, telling him that since he was Breton, July 14 was not that important for him.

»

"A supplement of "fighting spirit"" for Warren Barguil in 2017

His humor obviously hit the mark to allow Warren Barguil to conquer, at 25, his first success on the Tour, ahead of three big customers, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador and Mikel Landa.

"That day, it felt like he had enormous mental strength, an extra

," continues Aike Visbeek.

With this large French audience, it seemed clear that it would be like an

that would allow him to win.

»

If David Moncoutié finds himself in this description, he wishes to recall that he was not particularly the priority tactical choice wanted by Cofidis because of his nationality in 2005. “During the briefing, there was indeed an allusion to the 14 -July to target the French team, indicates the current consultant for Eurosport.

But I never felt the urge to favor a Frenchman, either among the sports directors or among the riders.

It was a stage for adventurers and Cofidis wanted any of its riders able to get into the breakaway that day to do so, French or not.

»

“I was looking to mark the occasion with July 14, but without really believing in it”

Samuel Dumoulin delivers the trend within B & B Hôtels-KTM before the start of this stage in Briançon: “We will find something to try to sublimate our French riders even more, but not all of our briefing will revolve around 14 -July ".

We admit it, when contacting him for this article, we could have imagined Marc Madiot giving Thibaut Pinot a poignant speech tinged with patriotism.

Our file on the Tour de France 2022

But no, still not: “There was a time when it was true that I did, but not anymore.

I was looking to mark the occasion with July 14, but honestly, I did it without really believing in it.

As long as Thibaut Pinot, Pierre Rolland, Romain Bardet, David Gaudu, Pierre Latour, Warren Barguil and all the others believe in this "

" of July 14, a tricolor feat could be in the air at the end of the 21 turns of Alpe d'Huez.

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• Tour de France 2022

• Cycling

• July 14th

• Thibaut Pinot

• Alps

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

• Sport