Joy, relief, hope ... The announcement Wednesday of the holding of the Tour de France 2020 at the end of the summer, from August 29 to September 20, caused a positive wave in the peloton, riders and employers mixed, despite the unknown still linked to the coronavirus pandemic. "This is great news," the hero of last summer, Julian Alaphilippe, drew on France Télévisions immediately after the intervention of the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme (ASO). “It is a great joy. I was starting to lose hope! ”
"This is news that many of us have been waiting for"
Chris Froome"I respect confinement, I train indoors but it starts to be long. I can't wait to go back outside and resume a normal life, "added Alaphilippe, who spoke of" enormous motivation "since the Tour, which was originally scheduled to start on June 27, gave a dated goal. "This is news that many of us have been waiting for," said Chris Froome. The British quadruple winner of the event found the right formula in the period turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic and its numerous victims: "A little light at the end of the tunnel." "Cycling is not the most important race at the moment," said Froome.
But, like him, many runners expressed their hope for an upcoming outing and the resumption of activity. The winner of the 2019 edition, the Colombian Egan Bernal already has his head in the competition. He said on Wednesday that he would "rethink his training" to best defend his yellow jersey. "We have four and a half months left to return to optimal form, it is time to rethink the whole training, with more motivation than ever, to arrive on this date in the best possible form," he explained. on Instagram.
"We needed a date in order to find motivation on a daily basis," recognized the European champion, the Italian Elia Viviani. "The difficulty of the current period was the vagueness around this 2020 season. We did not know why we were training, what were our objectives," added Frenchman Guillaume Martin.
"We will finally be able to project ourselves on a goal that is immense," said Lilian Calmejane, thanking the organizers of the Tour and the French government who gave the green light. "There may be a little fewer spectators, the children will be at school," noted Alaphilippe. "But the Tour remains a great celebration". "The party will be all the more beautiful after this difficult period," even predicted another former stage winner, Alexis Vuillermoz.
Relief at least as great in the ranks of employers
"The essential seems saved with this Tour which will be able to take place in good conditions," said Vincent Lavenu (AG2R La Mondiale). "There is an uncertainty linked to the pandemic but it seems that the delay until the start at the end of August will allow to have a certain equity on the whole of the Great Loop".
"We will find 90 to 95% of the return on investment that the partners expect," said the boss of the French team in relation to the announcement by the International Cycling Union (UCI) that the future 2020 calendar will integrate the three grand tours and “Monuments”, the main day-long races.
"It's a real breath of fresh air," said Cédric Vasseur, his Cofidis counterpart. "The ASO announcement is very good news for the big cycling family: the riders, the staff, the fans, the partners ..." "We will adapt to plan the summer accordingly and allow our riders to be 100% there, ”promised Vasseur. For his team, as for all the training sessions started, a period of more than four months, new due to the circumstances, is now starting, before the appointment fixed in Nice on August 29.
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