Thibault Pinot: “The Tour remains my number one objective”

We left him in third place at the top of Colmiane, a little over a month ago, in Paris-Nice. The Covid-19 crisis has since passed through there. From his native Haute-Saône, where he maintains his body and his farm, Thibaut Pinot brings his first reactions to the postponement of the Tour de France at the end of the summer, evokes the difficulties of the crisis in terms of sport and people and confides more fully on his life in the countryside, close to nature and animals.

Thibaut, the Tour de France was officially postponed from August 29 to September 20. How did you receive the news?

I was of course very happy but not extremely surprised. The Tour passes in my village and a departure is planned ten kilometers from here, there were rumors running and some news in the newspapers. The possibilities were from the end of July to mid-August or from the end of August to mid-September. I learned early on that the balance tipped more for the second option. Me, I only hoped that it could take place before the end of the season, that’s all. Honestly, for us runners, these new dates do not change much. The most penalized are the spectators, the children, who should have come to see us on the side of the roads.

Do you fear a little less fervor than usual?

There will inevitably be fewer people than usual, but I’m sure there will still be a lot. When you pass in a village or in a city, anyway, everyone goes out to watch the Tour de France pass. I have no doubt that the craze around the Tour will be at least as strong as in other years, if not even stronger, because of the situation we are going through and the wait that it generates.

Now that it has been moved, are you optimistic about the holding of the Tour?

We know very well that the coming weeks will be decisive. At the end of May, I think we will definitely know if the Tour takes place or not. I am neither worried nor pessimistic, but we will simply see how it evolves. In any case, I don’t think the Tour will be delayed again. If it cannot be organized on these dates, it will be purely canceled, probably like the rest of the season, since that would mean that the crisis has not passed. We are aware of this possibility, it is in the corner of our head, but we try not to consider it too much.

Does this two-month postponement alter your plans?

No, the Tour remains for me objective number 1. Especially since there will be the world championships, which I like very much, a week later. The new dates do not change my course. And then, even if there may still be some heat at this time of the year, it has nothing to do with July, and it is not to displease me. It is one less constraint to manage. However, all the best riders will be at the start of the Tour de France, it’s almost a certainty. I don’t know if it will be any harder than it would have been in July. It will depend on how everyone manages this crisis. Perhaps some runners will have found it difficult to manage their energy or mental freshness during confinement. Everyone is in the same situation. No one really knows if he can be 100% on the Tour, myself included.

Do you expect a complicated preparation?

Yes and no. In the end, it’s a bit like preparing for the Tour of Spain. Personally, I can build on my experience of 2018. After my long absence following the Giro, I did the Tour of Poland at the end of July and chained on the Vuelta, which had not gone too badly (two victories of ‘stages, 6th overall, editor’s note). Everything will depend on the program achievable upstream. We all wait impatiently to be able to return to train on the road. For me anyway, it’s complicated. I take my pain patiently, but I prefer to be in lesser condition when it is time to go out than to wear out mentally on the trainer. It’s really not my thing and it has nothing to do with the sensations we normally have on the bike. I do it to say that I still ride a bike, but that does not fit in any way in my preparation for the future. Virtual platforms, it amused me 15 days but it was done. Now I watch series or something to keep me busy.

This forced truce comes after your long absence. Do you think it is harmful to you?

It is not easy for me. I was just coming back after a long six month break, which is a lot. A break is already enormous. I struggled to get back to level and I’m afraid I will have to whip even more after this new stop. Will the three short months I will have to prepare for the Tour be enough? I hope so, anyway. For me, it’s certainly more annoying than for other runners, because it’s my second long break in six months.

Didn’t your start to the season allow you to restart the machine?

Even if it was getting better and better, especially at the end of Paris-Nice, I was not at my level. I felt it. Admittedly, I manage to be third on the last day at the top, but in terms of sensations, it was not that at all. I probably would have needed a little more work with the Tour of Catalonia or even that of the Basque Country to get back to level completely. In this sense, this truce is damaging which concerns me.

But perhaps you know better than others how to get back on your feet in such circumstances?

Of course, I have already had some experiences of this kind. Besides, I’m not at all worried at the moment. I am quite calm about this situation, I do not panic at all at the idea of ​​doing only an hour and a half of home trainer per day, this is not what motivates me. I know that from May 11, I will take all this seriously and that I will do my best to be 100% on the Tour. Will it be enough? I don’t know, we can’t guarantee it. The body will give answers that I do not yet have. But I hope so.

Did the Tour announcement breathe new life into the group?

In reality, not really. First, I think everyone expected a little. Second, we are still well anchored in this confinement phase. Personally, I still have trouble projecting myself. We are going through quite a difficult period, and this is also the case for my family. I still find it hard to talk about the Tour de France or cycling in general. I think it’s the same for my teammates. We will still have time to stimulate ourselves for the Tour. Rudy also gave this very good example: it’s as if we were at the Tour of Lombardy and that we were already motivating ourselves for La Marseillaise. There is no hurry… At the moment, everyone is already doing their best with the home trainer. Some support it rather well, others a little less, but everyone does the right thing. I think it is only when we become real cyclists again, to ride outside rather than virtually, that we can really talk about bikes and goals. In any case, we have an exceptional chance of having sponsors who are so understanding. We are really calm about our situation, we have no fear. In this rather difficult period, it is precious to know that the sponsors are behind us.

How have you lived this last month?

It was complicated. Both of my parents got sick from the virus, and my father still does, 25 days after I tested positive. There have been ups and downs. It’s not simple. I used to take news every day, but it’s a very violent virus, more than we said at the start. I also live in a region that has been hit a lot, so we know what we are talking about here… As for confinement, even when there is none, apart from doing my shopping, I don’t move too much from home . So it hasn’t changed much. What I may miss is going to the movies or restaurants from time to time, but we can do without it. From a personal point of view, I experienced confinement very well. I am lucky to live in the deep countryside, with my pond and my fields nearby. I can not complain,

What is your daily life like?  

I take care a lot. I do my home trainer training every day, I take care of my house, my small farm, I take the time to feed my animals. I have the function of a farmer, but without the constraint, only with passion. I also take care of the manure, I built a fence that I wanted to make this fall… It finally takes me a long time. What I usually did in October, I do now. Above all, it allows me to think of something else. In the end, the days are full, and for a month, I haven’t been bored for a minute.

What are the Pinot farmer’s cattle?

So I have four donkeys, two cows, ten goats and ten sheep. That makes nearly thirty animals, of which I do not exploit any. I never sold or killed one of my animals, they are rather pets. When I am at home, I like being surrounded by animals, and fortunately I have a lot of land to install them. I am also fortunate to live in a small hamlet of a handful of houses where the neighbors are also quite happy to have animals around their homes. When I’m away, they are the ones who take care of them and feed them, along with my parents. In the end, it’s a job for everyone.

Due to your location, do you feel less of the anxiety-provoking atmosphere of this crisis?

We are absolutely not disconnected from the virus. It has touched many people here, whether in my family but also among my neighbors. At the beginning, we also tried to follow the news to find out what was going on, but we gradually got away from it, because we were told something different every day… I no longer want to listen to everything what he says.

Does this period comfort you, if need be, in your choice of life?

I like where I live. There are bound to be advantages and disadvantages to living here, and I have also often been told “you live in a lost region, this, that …”. Today, everyone would undoubtedly like to be in this lost region, where you can enjoy the fresh air and the sun. It is true that I am 1.5 hours from an airport and an hour from the TGV station. These are constraints, but this is where I built my little paradise. I am well here and maybe after my career my life will finally be like confinement. I don’t see myself moving much. I’m quite a homebody. Everyone makes their life choices, and mine is this one. I always thought of living here, I never had the slightest desire to go and settle elsewhere.

Will you miss this daily newspaper when life and the season resume their course?

Let’s say that I would still have taken advantage of the time that I did not expect to have this year. And then, once the training resumes, I will certainly do my hours on the saddle, but I also know that at the end of the afternoon, I will be near my animals. I don’t worry about that. It doesn’t bother me too much either when I go on a three-week race, because we get into a bubble and we forget the rest a bit. Besides, when we are on the Tour in September, we will simply know that we are on the Tour, not that we are in September. The most difficult ultimately is when I am in training, especially at the start of the season. After a few days, I miss life here and I can’t wait to get home.

How do you see the coming weeks?

The advantage of confinement is that I no longer count the days. And it feels good to no longer know what day it is. I also don’t have this countdown before the next race start, which started automatically when I got home. It feels good to ask a good blow, it had probably not happened to me since the age of 15 years. We are now waiting for May 11 to go cycling in the Vosges, at least I hope. Here, I could do routes without a car and without meeting anyone, but even if I have as much risk of being loaded by my cow in the morning as of falling on my bike, I stay in my garage. Many ask me why we, professionals, for whom it is the job, we do not have the right to train. I don’t have a clear opinion,