It was a tradition almost as old as the Tour and which, too, must take a health break: the days of rest are made to heal the bodies but also soothe the spirits.
For many runners, it is an opportunity to meet family and children.
And the ritual was well established in the hotels: there was always a few moments free to go down in the lobby and kiss his.
Moments that acted like a heart massage.
But the health bubble has no heart and relatives are forbidden to visit.
In some teams, like Groupama-FDJ, this won't change too much.
Last year, only the wife of Yvon Madiot, one of the sports directors, came.
At Direct Energie, it was a tradition for relatives living near hotels to come and visit.
But this year, the Vendéen Fabien Grellier or the young Mathieu Burgaudeau, whose mother lives on the island of Ré (where the Tour arrives on Tuesday), will not see anyone.
"We will meet again on September 21st"
But many live these absences moderately.
Especially in the heavy atmosphere of waiting for Covid test results.
Romain Bardet (AG2R) tries to put things into perspective.
“I was used to seeing my loved ones on these days, but I tell myself that I took advantage of it during confinement, he notes.
It compensates.
"" We were prepared for it, but the hardest part for my children is when they saw me at the presentation in Nice and they couldn't give me a hug, confides Mikaël Cherel, the teammate. by Bardet.
It was hard for them and very painful for me.
"
At Cofidis, the mines are also closed.
“It's a little heavy.
We often need to see familiar faces.
At the start of the Tour, my girlfriend and my parents wondered about coming to see me.
But when I saw how things were going in Nice at the Grand Départ, I understood.
With the two rows of barrier, there was not too much interest.
We will meet again on September 21st.
"For Pierre-Luc Périchon, the Tour has" black spots "this year:" access to hotels but also to the departure village, where you could usually meet relatives ".
This mini-blues, his teammate Christophe Laporte shares it.
“The pleasure of this day, usually, is to relax with his family, deplores the sprinter from Cofidis.
There we can not.
If we had learned it during the Tour, it would have been more complicated.
It's a bit tough morally but we knew it.
"
At the B&B Hotels - Vital Concept hotel, the findings are the same.
“It's my first Tour as a dad, squeaks Bryan Coquard.
Babies grow fast and it hurts a bit to my heart not to see my little girl and my wife for that long.
The other times it would have bothered me less.
"
"Our daughters wouldn't understand"
Marion, the wife of Pierre Rolland, would also have liked to be with her husband.
“I had blocked ten days including the rest day on the initial dates of the Tour,” she explains.
Pierre is just as frustrated as I am.
It is a big lack.
I also plan to come next weekend between Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon.
But our 6 and 3 year old daughters wouldn't understand just saying hello to their daddy from afar.
It's hard because even if you only see thirty minutes on a day off, it feels good for the whole family.
"
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The wife of New Zealander George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) has found the parade.
On Saturday, she was waiting for her husband in the ascent of the Col de Peyresourde.
A pat in the hand and a hundred meters of running by his side replaced the visit to the hotel.
A moment of sweetness in a harsh world.