“Good evening madam, he's the director of the Tour de France.
Could I talk to Paul please?
The phone call, intended for her son, surprised Caroline on Thursday September 3 at the end of the day, shortly after the family television of the house of Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire (Loire-Atlantique) finished showing the ascent of the peloton to Mont Aigoual.
Barely had time to give the phone to the 9-year-old child, when the latter sped into his room to talk to the boss of the Grande Boucle.
This is where his passion for cycling, born “at the end of last year, around October” by the confession of the concerned and nourished by reruns during confinement, is illustrated.
On the ground, Michelin maps of France or Italy.
Scrambled sheets with the names of cities to make a sub-prefect jealous at the end of his career.
And successions of passes made famous by the Tour de France.
Greeted by Julian Alaphilippe
“I start by connecting cities on the maps to make my steps, then I write them in rough.
Finally, I create them on the computer on Pro Cycling Manager
(Editor's note: a cycling simulation video game)
, describes the boy, schooled in CM1.
It allows me to improve my geography.
I designed a Tour de France, I almost finished a Giro and I invented a
Tour de la montagne
where I take the runners through the Massif Central, the Alps or the Pyrenees, and a race that goes from Sicily in Strasbourg.
It takes me five days to make a route when I don't have school, eight or nine since the start of the school year.
This takes time.
"
Hi @ alafpolak1
My 9 year old son is a fan of cycling and you.
He makes @LeTour on paper / computer with stage profiles and other stats that I don't understand.
1 - is it serious?
2 - would you like to give him a digital hello?
🙏😘 pic.twitter.com/qpPY4PPi65
- Rémy (@Remy_Bellet) July 28, 2020
Rémy, his father, posted his son's work on Twitter at the end of July, calling on Julian Alaphilippe, one of the runners of whom Paul is a fan, for the occasion.
The recent wearer of the yellow jersey has given the work a "like" on the social network.
Amaury Sport Organization, the organizer of the event, also appreciated the initiative, arranged the phone call from Christian Prudhomme and sent a box of gifts to Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire.
Paul is unstoppable on his tracks.
Its longest stage drawn: “298 kilometers between Barcelonnette and the Col du Galibier, four non-category passes and 6,000 meters of elevation gain”.
Or the Tour of Spain on which he must work, or even the time trials he likes, "especially that of the Planche des Belles Filles", scheduled on the eve of arrival in Paris this year.
Discovering the passes with his grandfather
“During confinement, he spent entire mornings on his cards in his room,” says Caroline.
He is fully in his passion, he talks to us about passes, percentages and statistics at the table.
We don't always understand everything (laughs).
His parents are betting on the stage winners online, following his advice.
“He saved us 80 euros,” his mother explains.
I promise, he will have his commission!
"
To make his imaginary routes more concrete, Paul left this summer with his grandfather in the laces of several mythical climbs in the Alps and is considering joining a cycling club to go from theory to practice.
To, one day, go rub shoulders with “the short and steep collars” that he loves to inflict on cyclists in his imagined races.