Even if he gives his opinion on the Tour from his home for Europe 1, Richard Virenque has not been on the Tour since 2018. His consultant contract with Eurosport has not been renewed.
Deep down, the Varois, who signed hundreds of autographs every day at the departure village, does not understand that he is being forgotten.
Are you missing the Tour de France?
RICHARD VIRENQUE.
It was something that was ingrained in me.
I played it twelve times and then I was on the road for almost fifteen years.
It's like a ritual.
And it's been two years since I can come.
I was ambassador of the polka dot jersey then consultant and there, nothing more.
Obviously, I no longer fit into the communication patterns.
Now it's a world where, to be in the right places, you have to be seen.
It doesn't have to be my case.
It's just too bad for someone.
Who ?
The public.
People.
Those who really do the Tour.
I know he still wants me.
Whether he likes to see me, chat or take a photo.
And without being pretentious, I don't know many former runners who are, years after their careers, so popular.
Are you being asked why you are no longer on the Tour?
All the time !
If you still knew the number of letters I get.
Generally, two months before the Tour, the craze resumes.
Maybe you are too expensive?
I expected this one.
This is the argument given by those who are uncomfortable when they mention my absence.
I can tell you that I am not making it a financial issue.
Not at all even.
I have business and projects on the side.
I don't want to come back to the Tour for the money.
But frankly, you have to be blind and deaf not to see that when I'm there, things are going on with the audience.
I regret that they no longer want me on the Tour to recreate and share this passion with people.
Consultant or public relations of a brand, I can do things.
Have you experienced any concrete refusals?
(Silence)
Come on, I'll say it.
The Polka Dot Jersey changed sponsor a year ago
(Editor's note: Leclerc instead of Carrefour)
.
I asked for an appointment to see if he wanted to continue with me.
Even this meeting, I was not granted!
I ended up learning that I was not the embodiment of change.
I don't mind, but I don't think anyone embodies this jersey better than me.
I won it seven times.
I have a legitimacy that would have deserved, at least, that I be granted an appointment.
But I was disconnected from the Tour.
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What is the biggest lack?
No longer see this environment.
I know people everywhere who make me get on buses or chat with runners.
I speak their language and it itches me not to see them anymore.
It is not a suffering but a real lack.
This 2020 edition does not smile on the French.
How do you explain it?
There is a reason that is not mentioned but the confinement is an explanation.
Remember that in France, for almost two months, the runners were not allowed to train outside while in Belgium, the Netherlands or elsewhere it was possible.
While the others ate for miles, the French ate home trainers.
Which does not replace anything.
Yet it is in these periods that we work on land and resistance.
The Colombians were in the case of the French.
Why are you so affirmative?
Because I lived it.
When I was suspended for nine months in 2000
(Editor's note: for his doping confession in the Festina affair)
, I was unable to train properly.
I paid for it for a long time before finding regular performances.
I am convinced that the Covid plays a role in the poor performance of the French.
