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Tour de France: "Winning on the Champs is the grail of the sprinter", dreams Bryan Coquard

2020-09-20T06:40:58.658Z


The French sprinter is the biggest French chance during the Champs-Élysées sprint. He tells how he suffered to get to


The sprinter and leader of the B&B Hôtels - Vital Concept team, invited to the Tour, was frustrated at not competing for four years.

Bryan Coquard, 28, believes that his training validated his selection by his selflessness.

And he, who dreams of winning on the Champs-Élysées this Sunday, has discovered virtues of courage and sacrifice that he never imagined.

How would you define your Tour de France?

BRYAN COQUARD.

It's simply the hardest I've ever played.

This is where I went the furthest in pain.

It wasn't just the Tour of Suffering, but there was.

At first, it was fine, then I had this unfortunate fall on the Ile d'Oléron

(10th stage)

where I was injured in the knee.

But the pain is also the beauty of the Tour.

Is the Tour a race that is not easily abandoned?

Yes.

And don't forget that I hadn't played it since 2016. Since then, I was frustrated and disappointed.

So I wasn't going to let go like that.

We were lucky enough to receive an invitation and I had to go after myself to honor it.

Finishing the biggest race in the world is already a source of pride.

The abandonment of your teammate, Jens Debusschere, who arrived late at the Col de la Loze after having done everything to help you, made an impression ...

Humanly, there were some enormous things about this Tour that the general public did not necessarily see.

Invisible races.

At the Grand Colombier, Jens and Kevin Reza waited for me to prevent me from arriving late.

We barely got there after a hassle of 50 terminals.

And at the Col de la Loze, Jens, who climbs better than me, made the decision on his own to sacrifice himself for me.

By helping me, he left his strength to finish.

When I saw that, I had to give my all to get there on time.

I had to stay alive to justify his sacrifice.

There, we are more in a story of men than of sport ...

Yes, because human selfishness could have pushed him to stay hidden in the Gruppetto instead of dropping out.

I am in debt to him.

After taking care of my knee, I have decided to push my season forward, especially in Paris-Roubaix where I have nothing to gain but where I would like to serve Jens.

There is something strong now between us.

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What does arriving at the Champs-Élysées represent for a sprinter

?

It's the most beautiful sprint in the world.

There is no more prestigious setting and it is the end point of the greatest race in the world.

This is his last image.

The one we remember.

In the eyes of the general public, this is the absolute myth.

You could not find more beautiful.

You finished 2nd behind the German Greipel in 2015. What is success on the Champs-Élysées worth?

Winning on the Champs is the holy grail of the sprinter.

Obviously, everyone wants it.

She makes you dream.

I'll do everything to try my luck.

Friday, I reassured myself on my knee.

This Sunday, I will be able to sprint without embarrassment.

B&B Hotels - Vital Concept does not have the best team to take a sprint.

How could you do well

?

It's no secret: the legs will do three quarters of the work on the Champs.

There is the fatigue of three weeks which does not allow the same collective tactics as at the start of the Tour.

You have to be smart.

I am not the greatest specialist of the Champs-Élysées but I will have Kevin (Reza) who is not bad at all.

We know how to maneuver.

Did you have the impression that your team's Tour was successful?

A lot of people tell us that anyway.

We honored our part of the moral contract with the organizer.

At the start of the Tour, I was asked in what state of mind we wanted to arrive in Paris.

I had made a super-boat answer by saying

having given everything

.

But this is really the reality.

Of course, we didn't win a stage, but we were seen on all terrains, attacking each time to really try something.

There was heart in our team.

It was not easy at first to compete with the best teams in the world.

But, and we repeated it in our bus, we really do not have to be ashamed of our record.

And there is still Paris

(smile)

!

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-09-20

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