Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour, shared on Saturday with Yves Krattinger, the president of the Departmental Council of Haute-Saône, the outcome of this Tour: “We could not hold on our chairs, we turned like Pasteur trying to find the vaccine against rabies.
We said to ourselves: “It's not possible…” And Pogacar did it.
I never imagined such an outcome, even if I knew that at the Planche des Belles Filles there are always changes of yellow jersey… ”Relief points at the end of a trying Tour:“ It was complicated.
All the specialists, infectiologists, medical professors told us so and unfortunately we can see it, the pandemic will last.
You have to learn to live with it.
We have shown that by taking great precautions we can achieve this.
Thanks to the communities, to the State services, to the ASO teams, to the runners, everyone understood that it was necessary to accept sometimes draconian rules so as not to approach the runners.
The only reason for these measures was that the Tour could exist, so that we could reach the end.
Obviously, we had doubts, collective and individual uncertainties that we did not dare admit to each other, but we believed in it, we did not give up.
"
The final suspense delighted him.
At the time of the assessment, the director of the Tour underlines: “We always dream of that.
I said that this Tour would be a Surprise Tour, we had some.
There was this Jumbo-Visma overkill, on one side, and on the other, appointed leaders who, for a whole host of reasons, were not up to par.
The Planche des Belles Filles gave the name of the winner of the Tour.
"After three weeks during which the French have been discreet (two stage victories with Nans Peters and Julian Alaphilippe):" They were behind last year and the flamboyant Tour of Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot.
The first part of the Tour was more favorable to them than the second, but the falls played a considerable role.
Thibaut Pinot, with what he had shown at the Dauphiné, would have been there, I am sure, Romain Bardet 4th overall when he fell, just before arriving on his ground (13th stage), would no doubt have not much retreated.
Julian Alaphilippe, after his marvelous start at the Col d'Eze, as he had said, was not there for the general classification but to chase the stages.
Often escaped, almost always in the lead at 4.30 p.m. but no longer in the lead an hour later.
Guillaume Martin (11th and first French), was at his level, constant, even if the first ten days of the Tour gave hope for even better.
They are down on last year, but maybe in 2019 everything smiled on them and this year nothing smiled on them.
The truth is a bit between the two, ”explains the director of the Tour de France.
Regarding the attacks of certain elected environmentalists, the director of the Tour recalls: “The elected officials have the power to say yes or no.
Without elected officials, there is no cycling race.
"And about the punchy speech delivered in Grenoble in the presence of the EELV mayor of the city, Eric Piolle, Christian Prudhomme, who declared" to break living together, it's not a mistake, it's a mistake " , summed up to AFP: “It's not political at all, it's just common sense.
Afterwards, we can always feel that we are not going fast enough in environmental matters.
But things are progressing.
The Tour shows and is nourished by the beauties of France, we have no desire to spoil the beauties of France.
For years, we have been in this process.
The rest will now be built up with next year's Tour in the pipeline, and quickly prestigious meetings, such as Paris-Roubaix (men and women), on October 25.
With the feeling of "a job well done".
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The final general classification of the Tour de France