“
I know it by heart but it's the legs that will speak.
When he confided in
Le Figaro
a few days ago about his ambitions in a disputed seventh stage on home soil, Thibaut Pinot dreamed of the best but did not rule out the worst either.
It was ultimately the scenario of poor performance that caught up with the Frenchman from the Groupama FDJ team, released when the race got tougher on the last climb of the Super Planche des Belles Filles, about twenty kilometers from his village of Mélisey.
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The general classification of the Tour de France
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The darling of the public, who had ticked this stage on his agenda for many months, did everything to keep up with the best.
But when Tadej Pogacar's team picked up the pace just over four kilometers from the finish, he couldn't do anything to stay in touch.
The 32-year-old rider arrived at the top 2'26 behind on the yellow jersey, in 31st position, marked and inevitably a little disappointed at not having been able to live up to the incessant encouragement of a crowd that did not only had eyes for him in the final difficulty.
"
To play in front, you really had to be at 100% and I was at 95%, so it does not pass
", let go, lucid, the Habs, perhaps referring to his positive test for Covid-19 a few days before the start of the Grande Boucle.
We tried, it could work
Thibaut Pinot
"
It was a great atmosphere, I took advantage of it at the end
", nevertheless let go of Pinot, more popular than ever, in this corner of the Vosges mountains, and also aware that, despite his stated ambitions and the fact of enjoy the support of the public, the climb did not fully correspond to his qualities as a climber.
“
We tried, it could
work,” he insisted on arrival, his gaze now turned towards the rest of the operations.
Read alsoTour de France: Pogacar the insatiable, Pinot the missed meeting ... Our tops and flops of the 7th stage
Pinot, more than ever lieutenant of an excellent Gaudu
Widely behind in the general classification (34th, at 7'47), Pinot definitely no longer represents a threat to the leaders of the peloton.
His poor performance this Friday could allow him to obtain a good exit in the Alps or even in the Pyrenees in the days to come.
But his main mission, from now on, will consist more than ever in helping David Gaudu, sixth at the top, 19 seconds behind the Slovenian, and 5th in the general classification, 1'31 '', to get, why not, a podium in Paris .
But the lieutenant will not refrain from going on a commando mission to go and afford a fourth stage in the Grande Boucle.
The mythical climbs of the Tour de France
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