Every year on Bastille Day, the FDJ riders listened to the French national anthem La Marseillaise in their bus prior to the start. It happened again this morning before Thibaut Pinot and his team-mates went to the sign in area. The leader of the four leaved clover squad races on home soil as La Planche des belles filles is only twenty kilometers away from his village, Mélisey, where his father Régis is the mayor. A proud patriot, team manager Marc Madiot was proud to hear that he slept last night in a room previously occupied by French leader Charles de Gaulle at the Hôtel du Parc in Thann near Mulhouse. This morning, he was happy to hear that Fausto Coppi also slept there…
Questioned by letour.fr, Madiot said: “I expect a very competitive start today. This is the day for Contador to put Nibali into trouble. Otherwise, Nibali will have eight easy days. I believe Thibaut [Pinot] will climb with the top riders today. He's physically doing well.”
At the same time, the FDJ.fr team manager and president of the French professional league organizes the fourth leg of the Madiot Trophy for U16 cyclists in his village of Renazé in the west of France today with 145 starters. He reminded that Tony Gallopin was a winner in his series the first year he got them underway in 2004.
