They had considered withdrawing at the same time, but Antoine Duchesne overtook Thibaut Pinot by lifting the felts after the Montreal Cycling Grand Prix last fall.
At the start of winter, the Frenchman, who was then 32, cut all suspense short by announcing his retirement at the end of the 2023 season on the cover of L’Équipe.
“I never wanted this life as a champion,” headlined the sports daily to cap an interview spanning three pages.
Before returning to nature and its animals, his two passions, he wanted to compete in a final Giro, with which he had a score to settle, and a final Tour de France. To prepare for it, he called on Duchesne, who served as his massage therapist, cook and alter ego during two camps.
“It started off as a joke, but in the end, we managed to make it happen,” said the 31-year-old Quebecer, who had just put his 1-year-old son Jules to bed on Thursday.
The ex-cyclist had exchanged a few text messages with his friend after the 12th stage, where Pinot (6th) left on a breakaway in Beaujolais. “He said the stage was tough, but otherwise it was more bullshit than anything…”
A cooking lover for a long time, the Chicoutimi native developed knowledge in massage therapy by following online sessions last winter.
Is he better cook or masso? “He’s got a lot of gifts, that runner! “, replied Pinot, met before the start of the third stage, in Amorebieta, in the Spanish Basque Country.
With trainer Julien Pinot, Thibaut’s brother, Duchesne attended a camp in the Canary Islands before the Giro, where Pinot surprised with a fifth place overall and two near-winning breakaways (twice second). In view of the Tour, the trio found themselves in the Col de la Croix Fry, in Haute-Savoie, which the riders will cross on Sunday during the 16th stage.
“It happened naturally,” Pinot explained. He was also interested in coming. He immediately accepted this project. He trained to massage, and since he is quite good at it too, he continued. »
His podium in 2014 (3rd) and his three prestigious stage victories in the Tour made him a true national hero, but his falls, injuries and forced retirements also caused him his greatest pain.
“Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, maybe I couldn’t bear to win the Tour de France,” he wondered, to the astonishment of the journalist from L’Équipe, at the about his withdrawal in 2019 due to a thigh muscle tear.
“For me, Pinot is a romantic lost in the 21st century, with its mystery and its paradoxes”, nicely illustrated Marc Madiot, his boss at Groupama-FDJ.
Duchesne offers another reading: “For me, it’s a bit like a wild beast, a very sensitive wild beast. By his embarrassment and his sensitivity, he has a kind of clumsiness in him, which makes him be perceived as a bit grumpy. But when you tame him—or rather when he lets you tame him—you would fight any fight for him. He is an extremely endearing person. »
Arrived at Groupama-FDJ in 2018, Duchesne befriended Pinot during the Tour of Poland and then at the Vuelta, where the Franc-Comtois won two stages, which allowed him to integrate the circle of winners in the three big rounds.
“It’s also complicated to be a leader and to surround yourself with real people in an environment like that, where everyone is trying to pull the cover for themselves,” he observes.
During the last Tour, Duchesne and Pinot liked to relax with a beer after the stages. Does the Frenchman miss his Quebec buddy, who introduced him to the music of the Fringant Cowboys, which became a staple on the team coach last summer?
“It is true that this is my first year without him for several years. It’s a void, admits Pinot. He was my roommate, so obviously, for me, it feels weird. Afterwards, I see him more often now in everyday life than on the bike. It allows you to have a good time and enjoy him before he goes back to Can… in Quebec. »
The interview about his friendship with Duchesne ended there. Pinot had agreed to talk about it for a few minutes, but the booms of the microphones of the colleagues quickly found themselves under his nose, eager to know his moods after his “free” day the day before in San Sebastián.
“It may be a bit of age,” admitted Pinot, who did not hide his disappointment. I’m starting to get old. My “free” days are a little harder to live with than when I was 25. »
But with his sixth place on Thursday, the winner of the Tour of Lombardy climbed five rungs in the general classification. Here he is 10th, about thirty seconds behind his teammate David Gaudu, in whose service he has served since the big start.
But what Thibaut Pinot is aiming for above all in his 10th Tour de France is a last stage success, a last great emotion, before returning to his land.
In cycling jargon, a day off is a day when the rider has lost his legs, his form, his momentum, in some sudden, inexplicable or mysterious way. He will say that he is no longer moving forward or that he is stuck to the road. The day off is particularly feared by GC specialists, especially during the big three-week tours, where it can lead to an irrecoverable drop in the standings.
