Review of the Tour de France | exhilarating

“Hi! Ha! When I got back to Montreal, that cowboy cry still rang in my ears. It comes from the mouth of a runner speeding at more than 60 km / h in the peloton stretched out on the Champs-Élysées, Sunday evening.

Simon Drouin
The Press

Without really knowing how, I found myself in the middle of the famous avenue, a hundred meters from the finish line of the 21^e and last stage of the Tour de France, with a breathtaking view of the Arc de Triomphe.

In this area reserved for a few photographers, I leaned against a plastic border half a meter high, to feel the cyclists tumbling into the false flat descending on the other side of the finish.

A TotalÉnergies runner – was it Mathieu Burgaudeau? – came dangerously close to the fence to go back inside the peloton, which had taken over Antoine Duchesne a little earlier.

I trust the agility of these professionals, but I instinctively gave up. The gust of wind made me shiver, but it wasn’t because it was cold. Exhilarating.

This 109^e Tour de France was memorable, and not only because of the privilege I had of covering part of it on the spot. First during the Grand Départ in Denmark, where the public turned out in droves long before the consecration of Jonas Vingegaard, and then on the final stage in Paris, where I saw the cyclists jumping on the cobblestones of the Champs -Elysees.

Of course, Hugo Houle made the experience unforgettable. By dint of singing its praises, we end up wondering if patriotism does not blind us a little. The only stage winner without rank, the 31-year-old Quebecer has nevertheless touched everyone.

The Cycling Podcastthe most listened to British podcast in the industry, made it one of its four finalists for the title of “pedaler of charm”, along with Magnus Cort, Fred Wright and… Vingegaard.

The Team on Monday ranked among his four favorites his victory dedicated to his late brother. “His finger pointing skyward as he crossed the line, his misty eyes and his powerful words in the minutes that followed, mixing joy and melancholy, sparked a wave of tears among the crowd of followers present that day”, could– we read.

Louis Garneau, he was told by the three French sports directors, Vincent Lavenu, Marc Madiot and Jean-René Bernaudeau, that the representative of Israel-Premier Tech had made them shed tears. “He made us all cry,” summarized the Olympian and entrepreneur, who came to greet an “idol” whom he “admires”.

On July 19, the day he raised his arms in Foix, his page on Procyclingstats, a reference site, jumped to more than 22,000 consultations.

Powerful

Apparently, this stage success for Canada, the second since that of Steve Bauer in 1988, is one of better than Italy, still looking for a successor to Vincenzo Nibali, and equals the total of France, saved by the audacious triumph of Christophe Laporte in the 19^e stage.

“Already in SpiderTech [en 2011 et 2012], Hugo was ready to turn pro, Bauer noted. This was not the case for the other young people. »

Pierre Hutsebaut, who trained him for ten years, was amazed at the data collected by the power sensor of his former protege during the first hour of the race between Carcassonne and Foix.

Same impression from the Belgian Vincent Wathelet, TV producer of cycle races who became a friend of Houle. He helped him settle in Monaco, as he had done years earlier for ex-world champion Philippe Gilbert.

“I have rubbed shoulders with a few who have become world champions, and I can tell you that the parameters he set in the stage he won are the equivalent of the parameters that Philippe produced in its best year of 2011,” Wathelet said on Sunday evening.

His demonstration in the Mur-de-Péguère, “1% steeper than the Mur de Huy” in the Flèche Wallonne, made Wathelet believe that Houle “can go to Quebec and Montreal” in September.

“When you see that, you say to yourself: that’s it, he has unlocked in his head, in his heart. What happened to him is terrible. We had to mourn. There he is fine. »

And it does good.

The green monster

If Jonas Vingegaard is the winner of the Tour de France, we can legitimately say that his teammate Wout van Aert is the best rider in the world. At ease on all terrains, the Belgian from the Jumbo, 22^e overall, easily won the green jersey for best sprinter and signed three stage victories. Second of the three Danish stages, from where he left with the yellow jersey, he could have added a success on Sunday, but he preferred to accompany Vingegaard and his other teammates by crossing the line on the Champs-Élysées. His performance in Hautacam, where he dropped Tadej Pogačar, double reigning winner of the Tour, left you speechless. “Hence the question that came up everywhere – could the Belgian win the Tour? -, a legitimate question, but also archaic, which refers to the idea that only the Grande Boucle counts, whereas van Aert’s genius, until then, will precisely have been to free himself from it”, wrote with great accuracy Alexandre Roos, of The Team. Unless the program changes, the Quebec public will be able to admire it for the first time at the Quebec and Montreal GPs.