After more than two months without competition, French cycling is starting to prepare for its return to racing, from August 1. But the approach of the next Tour de France (from August 29 to September 20) will have nothing to do with previous editions. The Covid-19 pandemic has passed there. Jérôme Pineau, the boss of the French team "B&B Hotels-Vital Concept", invited for the first time on the Grande Boucle, explains the original method he has chosen.
Two groups of five. "We will respect the distance quotas," he said. We decided to create two groups of five runners. One will be for sprinters, with our best asset Bryan Coquard. The other, with Pierre Rolland, will be more centered on the mountain. The two groups will recognize different stages and will not cross paths. The ten men from these groups are our preselection for the Tour. Usually, you don't choose as quickly. After that, of course, there will be adjustments based on fitness in August. "
A Tour de France by car. “Now that I have the right to travel, I will travel around France by car with Didier Rous, the team's sporting director. We will have a serological test before leaving. We are going to go see one by one all the runners to tell them how we imagine their future in the team, whether we count on them or not. We have fourteen who are at the end of their contract and who need to know what we want to do with them. But it was out of the question to do it via a computer. "
Neither train nor plane. “Between races, we decided that the runners will not take public transport. No train or plane to reduce the risk of contamination. It is a choice that favors health over physical recovery. But we assume it. We will organize to make all the trips by car. "
The route captain's virus. “Arthur Vichot, one of our most experienced guys (Editor's note: double French champion on the road in 2013 and 2016) is already forfeited for the Tour. And we don't know when it will be able to roll. He is the victim of a viral problem, but we do not know what he is suffering from exactly. He is too tired to ride a bike. Arthur had to take exams in Brussels, but confinement blocked everything. We cannot imagine including it in our preparation. As soon as the confinement was lifted, it was the first one I went to see to cheer him up. "