A bubble around the riders, a virus threatening the peloton and the caravan, men on the podiums around the champions… If this Tour is unique, its novelties are numerous.
The Covid-19 pandemic is not the only one to have shaken up the institution.
The zeitgeist and the evolution of society too.
The result: at the finish of the stage, men flourished on the platform during the celebration of the winner and the various distinctive jerseys.
They are called hosts.
In order to respect diversity, ASO, the organizer, has decided this year to share roles.
On the stage, a girl, a boy.
Alan Silvestri discovers his new mission and he is delighted.
The 32-year-old professional model presents the best climber polka-dot jersey for the Leclerc group.
He was selected after a casting.
“Not on exclusively physical criteria,” he emphasizes.
For me, it is a chance.
I do not enter into the political debate but already, it gives me work, so it's great.
Then, I find it good that both sexes are represented, whatever the fields besides.
There is a social role there.
"
"I have heard not very pretty things about the hostesses"
They are six like him, on the podiums of the Tour.
Their work begins in the morning with the reception of the sponsor's guests at the departure village.
It ends after the "delivery of the shirts".
“The podium is just the tip of the iceberg,” says the father from Laval (Mayenne).
It is a real job, with wide working hours and very specific tasks to perform such as facilitating and maintaining relations with the guests of the group.
To get there, we had to work.
I heard not very pretty things about the hostesses, that they were vases.
This is unpleasant because it is not at all.
And the runners are attached to this protocol.
"
It's not easy to find your place in an environment where competition is severe.
“I'm happy to be here on the Tour, an international event, because I've had some complicated times,” he explains.
It is not easy to make a living from this job, to get contracts.
It is necessary to make sacrifices, to have a physical discipline and a strict hygiene of life.
To be here for me is both a huge experience and a chance, I hope, to be noticed.
"
With a nod to childhood.
“I was rocked by the exploits of Armstrong, Ullrich or Voeckler,” he says.
And my uncle, who should have been a professional cyclist, saw the race by proxy through me.
“On the Tour, professions often take on a sentimental dimension.