why don’t the French win a stage?

Day of rest for the riders of the Tour de France, before attacking the Pyrenees on Tuesday. It’s the last week of racing, and therefore the last chance to see a Frenchman win a stage. On Sunday, it was a Belgian, Jasper Philipsen, who raised his arms after crossing the finish line in Carcassonne, at the end of the 15th stage. The yellow jersey is still on the shoulders of Jonas Vingegaard, but the Dane lost two valuable teammates, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk, who gave up. The French are watching this from afar, since they still haven’t won.

“Do not despair”

It is clear that without Julian Alaphilippe, package after his big fall in the spring, the Tour is not the same. For the past four years, he was the biggest provider of French success. Yvon Ledanois is sports director of the Arkéa-Samsic team, which counted a lot on its climber Warren Barguil, forced to leave the Grande Boucle, because tested positive for Covid-19. “This year, it’s not smiling on a Frenchman for the moment. It’s like that, it’s the race”, he said at the microphone of Europe 1. “I think we should not despair, until the last step is taken.”

Two-thirds of the course has already been completed. The best result for a Frenchman is Thibaut Pinot, second in the Aigle-Châtel stage, also third in the Saint-Étienne-Mende stage.

“Often the same teams that win”

For Samuel Dumoulin, sports director of the B&B Hôtels-KTM training, one of the explanations is the internationalization of the peloton. “The level is getting higher and higher and it’s still often the same winning teams, and often the same riders,” he insists. According to him, it is “so never easy to get out of the game”.

The last time spectators waited more than two weeks to see a French victory was in 2016. Romain Bardet won at the end of the 19th stage.