The best Frenchman at the start of the Tour spent his day off with his Cofidis team this Monday in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime).
While awaiting the results of the PCR tests passed by the entire peloton (they will be unveiled this Tuesday morning by the organizers), Guillaume Martin, third in the general classification, returned to his new status, at 27, and the measures prevention against Covid-19 contamination in the midst of which runners evolve.
Did you expect to be on the Tour podium after the first week and crossing the Pyrenees?
GUILLAUME MARTIN.
Finding myself
third, so close to the first (
Editor's note: he is 28 '' behind the yellow Primoz Roglic jersey
), obviously, I would have signed for that before the Tour.
But this is not a performance that comes from nowhere
(Editor's note: 12th in the Tour in 2019, 21st in 2018, 23rd in 2017
).
I finished third in the Dauphiné where there was more or less the same field.
Where is this going to take me?
I can not say it.
Is the place of first Frenchman close to your heart?
No, not really, I'm not attached to that.
I am mainly focused on performance.
For now, I am a little weightless, but I tell myself that what is taken is no longer to be taken.
I trace my path.
To say that I am making fun of the general would be a lie and it would be a shame to let him down to get a step.
I don't put pressure on myself.
I'll hang on.
How do you explain your progress?
I changed teams (
Editor's note: he spent four seasons with Wanty Gobert
) and Cofidis gives me more resources.
I was able to prepare optimally with training at altitude.
And then, with the confinement this season, I rested more.
I have a freshness that I didn't have last year.
Are health measures around runners weighing on you?
It's very special but paradoxically, for me, it's sad to say, but it's more comfortable.
I am more relaxed in the face of media or other requests.
Everything is sanitized.
It's easier, especially at departures and arrivals.
We were tested this morning (
Editor's note: Monday
).
Now I hope all will be well.
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Do you fear contamination from the public?
I am focused on my race, I am not looking to the side of the road.
I had the impression, during the crossing of the Pyrenees, that the wearing of the mask was generally respected.
Well, there are always people who are screaming and cheering us on and not wearing it.
It's a shame, because the race can stop because of it.
Which of your opponents makes the strongest impression on you?
Primoz Roglic is impressive, he seems easy but in the end, he doesn't have to be that much because he doesn't make a big difference.
And then I remember that in the Tour of Italy last year, he had a weakness in the third week when he seemed imperial at the start.
Egan Bernal and Tadej Pogacar are also very strong.
It's open and it's good for the show.
Where can the Tour be played?
We will have to be vigilant everywhere but three big stages await us with arrivals at the top at Puy Mary (Friday), at Grand Colombier (Sunday), and at the Col de la Loze (Wednesday, September 17).
It is during this queen stage that it will be played.