Interview was translated from French. So please forgive our poor grammar, etc….
Q: You made the route beautiful for the climbers …
A: “To win the Tour de France, you must be good climber. But it’s not just the mountain. It is a Tour de France complete with a very dense first week, where they will play with steep slopes that exist in Britain and with the wind, then a passage in the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and the Alps to finish with a tribute to the Galibier. ”
Q: What did you search in the mountain?
A: “We really wish there was so many stages in the Pyrenees mountains in the Alps, ie three on each side with two iconic mountain finishes, Luz-Ardiden and the Plateau de Beille in the Pyrenees, the Galibier for the first time in the history of the Tour and Alpe d’Huez Alps side, so as to have an outstanding possible to the end but also opportunities to fight before. ”
Q: What is the idea?
A: “Challenging habits, and it seems absolutely necessary. We must ensure that the race is not fixed. The most important thing is to offer every year term with variations. This year we wanted to emphasize in first week on the arrivals that are different every day. There are only two pure sprinters (Redon and Chateauroux), there are often bumps just before the finish so that the early days, all types of riders can express themselves and that we can see the point favorites in the overall standings as last July on the cobblestones. ”
Q: What is the typical profile of the future yellow jersey?
A: “A rider full, good climber, clever and cunning to escape the traps of the first week will be many. We play regularly with the wind in the first week, there is almost pushed to the extreme with Cape Freels absolutely beautiful scenery in all the last-mile seaside ”
Q: Alberto Contador will be there from Vendee?
A: “I did not comment on the case. We await the findings of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the bodies authorized by the Code. No one wants one thing: it does not last too long. must await the findings of the survey, experts whose job it is. Obviously, this is not simple, it would be settled long ago “.
Q: The repetition of affairs is somewhat disheartening …
A: “It is clear that the fight against doping in cycling is not cosmetic, it actually exists. There is a real will. They complained previously of omerta, I do not feel it still exists in cycling. Things are moving even though every time we take shots. We did not want to give up, you do not want that cheaters can win. ”
Q: The difficulty of the race is she involved?
A: “The boosted the most famous story called Ben Johnson, he ran 100 meters. Is it is 99 meters or 98 meters today? We cheat because you want glory, money, to be, not for any particular difficulty. Bordry Stone, former head of the French Agency for fight against doping (AFLD) said that the majority of the squad is healthy … and most of the platoon does well in the Tour de France. “