From our special correspondent in Laruns
A light suddenly extinguished.
Saturday, during the 8th stage, less than 40 kilometers from the finish, in the port of Balès, Thibaut Pinot folded his wings.
Jaw released to try to catch a little air, blurred view, he struggled against a black curtain unrolled on a road transformed into a wall.
Face emptied of all color, his allure suddenly lost all majesty.
Falling from the 1st stage, victim of the summer ice on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, the leader of the Groupama-FDJ team got up hit in the shoulder, right hip and lower back.
Since then, he started and ended his days in care, hoping to succeed in knitting a physique allowing him to compete with the best.
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But, spring broken, his body and his head worn out by this impossible quest said stop.
His teammates have, like last year on the road to Tignes, united, letting the same images parade, hands placed on their backs, brief words exchanged, to share an immense pain to bear.
There was resignation in the words of the one who collected disappointments on the Tour (4 withdrawals in 8 participations; when a 3rd place in 2014 and 3 stage victories shone): “It may be a turning point in the quarry.
That's a lot of failures for everyone.
For the team, for me, for a lot of people.
"
Thibaut Pinot joined the list of the cursed of the Tour ranging from Eugène Christophe, the first yellow jersey (who broke his fork twice in the 1910s) to Jean-François Bernard (yellow jersey in 1987, when a puncture deprived him of the final victory), from Raymond Poulidor (who never wore the yellow jersey) to Roger Rivière (broken by a fall in the Col du Perjuret in 1960), from René Vietto (who gave his wheels to Antonin Magne in 1934) to Jean Alavoine (climbing thwarted in the 1920s by punctures and falls).
The Franc-Comtois has almost always come to the Tour backwards.
The crowd swallowing the road, the frenzy, the magnifying glass put down, depriving this nature lover of his living space.
"The guy next door"
Long oppressed, he gradually got caught up in the game, before becoming disillusioned.
A new time.
At 30, he could draw on the example of the Australian Cadel Evans, who, after collecting disappointments, won the Tour in 2011 at… 34 years old.
But his profile and his aspirations seem to push him to follow another path.
On other great tours, on classics.
To evolve freely, give free rein to his desires, he who, on Sunday, briefly rose to the front on the road to Laruns (9th stage).
To continue to make the hearts of the crowds beat faster.
Pinot is the “boy next door”, as the English say, “the guy next door”.
Proud of its roots, happy in its strongest moments, aware of its weaknesses.
Marc Madiot, the manager of the Groupama-FDJ team, assures us: “To have a good Tour, it is better not to go to the ground.
We will let the rest day pass (this Monday) and get back to matches that may concern us, such as stage victories and the polka dot jersey, perhaps.
We are not going to cry, we are going to pull ourselves together, build up our morale in order to move forward ... "
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