France's long wait for Tour winner goes on

After a superb Tour de France raced entirely on French soil, there is plenty for the host nation to cheer about, but the absence of a French winner remains a national sore point.

It is 40 years since Bernard Hinault won the last of his five Tours de France. Since then, the host nation has waited — not always patiently — for a successor.

But this year has produced some cheer for the home fans as they look ahead.

It's true that none of the five French teams on the roster landed either a stage win or a place on the final podium, but Valentin Paret-Peintre produced some heroics to grab a memorable stage win on Mont Ventoux.

On top of that, Kevin Vauquelin and Jordan Jegat both finished in the top 10, while Vauquelin and Lenny Martinez, just 22, wore the white and polka dot jerseys — for best under-26 rider and best climber respectively — for spells of the race.

It doesn't hide the lack of a winner, but it was enough to make former French champion Bernard Thevenet guardedly positive about future home ambitions.

Thevenet, who won the world's greatest bike race in 1975 and 1977, told reporters during this year's contest — won superbly by the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar for the fourth time — that the emerging riders were about to join the top table.

"We have good riders in France, obviously not as superb as Tadej Pogacar, but this happens," Thevenet said.

"We really thought Lenny Martinez might get the king of the mountains jersey, he gave us a bit of hope. But he couldn't take it all the way," the 77-year-old said, a day after Pogacar took it off the French youngster.

He also spoke of his joy at Paret-Peintre winning on Mont Ventoux.

"It was great to see him emerge like that, how he pulled that win off. He did well," said Thevenet.

Paret-Peintre himself said he had learned a winning mentality by joining a Belgian team.

"Belgium is more about classics than Grand Tours, so I learned this do-or-die attitude and it made the difference," he said.

Thevenet cautioned, however, that the young French riders on the Tour this year will not be the ones who deliver France from its 40-year wait for a winner.

"The new generation are not on the same level as Romain Bardet or Thibaut Pinot," he said of two recently retired climbers who had the misfortune to be riding at the same time as four-time winner Chris Froome.

"And it will be a while before we get a win or someone on the podium," he said.

Thevenet, however, has seen two riders who he believes may be the ones to end the French famine.

"Paul Seixas is 18, he isn't here on the Tour, but he will be. And within five years he'll be on the podium," he said. "There's also a great up-and-coming sprinter, Paul Magnier, and you can see him winning stages when he rides the Tour."

While Hinault's victory in 1985 was the last time France had a Tour winner, La Vie Claire was the last French team to win when American rider Greg LeMond secured his first title in 1986 — with his teammate Hinault in second.

After 112 editions of the world's greatest bike race, France has garnered 36 overall wins from 21 cyclists, and remains top of the heap in that respect.

Thevenet said French teams have a problem with financing, taxes and other reasons, and cannot compete directly with Pogacar's state-funded Team UAE.

But French outfit Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale has attracted a new partnership with a shipping company, which will give it a far bigger budget.

"This should level the playing field a bit," said Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme.

Thevenet's great French hope Seixas is on Decathlon's books and it is priming itself for a tilt at the top.

"Our goal is to enter the top five and then the top three worldwide, and to win the Tour de France by 2030," said team boss Dominique Serieys.

AFP