A “Pinot bend” in the Petit Ballon, a giant screen at his home in Mélisey and welcoming committees everywhere: Thibaut Pinot will be celebrated like a demi-god on Saturday on his Vosges training roads which he will survey for the last time in the Tour de France.
“It’s going to be a big party, a very strong moment”, anticipates the climber from Franche-Comté who, at 33, places his last pedal turns before putting away his bike for good at the end of the season. French cycling will then find itself orphaned by this singular character, “a little wild and shy”, who loves nothing more than “silence” and taking care of his goats on his farm in Mélisey, in Haute-Saône.
But peace will wait. On Saturday, the Pinotmania should reach new heights during a 20th stage with six passes that he knows by heart, between Belfort and Le Markstein. “I heard that we were in the process of organizing two or three little things”, underlines the Groupama-FDJ rider.
In effect. A “fan zone” will thus be installed in his native village, with a giant screen and a refreshment bar. Same thing in La Bresse, at the Traverse de la Roche, where the Association of Vosges cross-country ski hopefuls saw things big.
But it is especially in the Petit Ballon, penultimate ascent of the day, that it will happen and more precisely in the “Pinot bend”
“Singing very loudly, brandishing tifos and showing others that Thibaut is great today”, are the prerequisites requested by the parody account “Fédération Française de la Lose” which even organizes a bus trip from Paris to come and encourage the idol. “He has been making us dream for 10 years: it was time to return the favor. And we embark the best of you, ”proclaims the call to the large gathering.
To be selected, it will be necessary “to have believed in it on the Giro in 2018 and 2023, on the Tour in 2019, on the Dauphiné 2020”, that is to say each time that the champion of Mélisey has missed out on a great victory.
Because Thibaut Pinot may well have a more than respectable record – 3rd in the Tour in 2014, three stage victories, triumph at the Tour of Lombardy… in France, he is especially loved for his magnificent defeats.
His panache but also his struggles, his weaknesses and his personality which he himself describes as “quirky” have created a romantic icon which often surpasses him himself.
“I’m far from the best. And yet, I am one of the most encouraged. I don’t have the track record of a Julian (Alaphilippe), I don’t think I marked the decade of cycling. But with each pass that I climb, it’s crazier and crazier”, is surprised the one who even has his own personal kop, the Collectif Ultra Pinot.
Since the start of the Tour, passion has overflowed and the signs “Wonder Pinot” or “Retirement at 33, Pinot President” have flourished in the four corners of France.
“It gives me a lot of thrills, adrenaline. I am often told: thank you Thibaut. My best way to thank them would be to win a stage,” he said. But, lucid about his level, he recognizes that winning remains “beyond the dream” and already hopes “to be at the front” on Saturday “to take advantage of this atmosphere”.
“There will be chills and emotion, it will be my last climb on the Tour. Then, he will still have a few races left, before the curtain finally falls in October. “I’m happy to stop,” he said. And in a year I may be on the side of the road with my friends to encourage the runners”, between two fishing trips and feeding the goats in the silence of Mélisey.
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