There was already the Covid, terrible and relentless that lets a terrible sword of Damocles hover above the race. Here is now the rain in a region usually bathed in sunshine, which turns the route du Tour into an ice rink causing a cascade of falls involving certain favorites for the podium in Paris. “In every turn, there was a fall. It was so dangerous that riders asked the peloton to calm down. Yes, it's a really very special Tour that is starting, ”confirms his first yellow jersey, the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff, winner in the sprint on the Promenade des Anglais.
The Tour wants to try to brighten up our back-to-school afternoons for three weeks - if all goes well? It starts badly. He left under a downpour, an inky sky, a threatening climate and not just because of this damn virus. “You couldn't pedal without slipping. Everyone suffered and was afraid. It's one of my worst days on the bike, ”sighs Valentin Madouas, Thibaut Pinot's teammate, also sent ashore 3 km from the finish. Even if the fall seems minor, it had to fall on him to end a day of apocalypse. The favorite of the French was not alone in his misfortune: Pavel Sivakov, first lieutenant of Colombian Egan Bernal (title holder), also left feathers. Julian Alaphilippe, the hero of the 2019 Tour with his 14 days in yellow, blocked a wheel and ended up behind.
At the end of the chaos, few are those who returned to the hotel unscathed, in their flesh and their morale. “It has not rained in the region for weeks, and the first rains are still violent in the South, comments Richard Virenque, the former public darling who became a consultant for Europe 1. When it happens, we have the feeling of cycling on an ice rink. It is terrible and dangerous. "
The Col du Turini on the menu for the second stage
And here we are on Sunday a second mountainous and formidable stage, with a descent of the Col du Turini (a major place of the Monte-Carlo rally) of the most tricky. "Nobody is going to win the Tour on this stage, but I bet that some favorites are already at risk of losing it definitively here", even promises Virenque.
Fortunately, the sun is announced back in the Nice hinterland. Not sure that this will bring back the public, sparse this Saturday because of health measures. 99% masked to respect the instructions and not to endanger the race, the spectators did not jostle each other: “We advise against people coming. Finally, the Frenchman is disciplined and stayed in front of his TV, ”says Jean-Daniel, T-shirt with red polka dots on his back.
“It's a Tour for the locals, says Roger, alone in his turn. With the Covid and the change of dates, runners really have to come to your doorstep to see them pass. "
