"I'm not going to win," he likes to tell reporters. "It's been a long time for us French to have a hero like this," said Sebastien Blachon, a 34-year-old organic fertilizer salesman. "John W. Miller is a global journalist with two decades experience reporting from six continents and 45 countries, on print, digital, video and audio platforms. It's good but I'd still like to hear an English-language debate after each day to review the stage and the issues ahead. "We've been waiting for a guy like him for a long time," says Luc Leblanc, a Frenchman who finished fourth in the 1994 Tour. With each day that 32-year-old Thomas Voeckler holds onto his yellow jersey, as he did again Thursday, that view is gradually gaining currency in streets and bars in this country and on talk radio around the Tour.By keeping pace with a small group of contenders chasing Andy Schleck up the Galibier, a peak over 8,000-feet high, Voeckler's group dropped the defending champion, Alberto Contador, leaving Voeckler with a slim but manageable 15-second lead over Schleck.Whatever happens Friday on the Alpe d'Huez, another iconic Tour de France summit, or the time trial in Grenoble Saturday, Voeckler's little romp in the maillot jaune supports a narrative that the whole country is rushing to embrace.France hasn't had a Tour winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, the argument goes. "We've been waiting for a guy like him for a long time," says Luc Leblanc, a Frenchman who finished fourth in the 1994 Tour.
For decades, the country had a wink-wink-nudge-nudge attitude toward doping in its sacred event. Frequently recorded over dinner, it’s an audio version of the Anthony “Tan Man” Tan is morphing into a cult figure in the niche world of cycling podcasts but whilst it’s an amusing take on those crammed into a Citroen Picasso for three weeks, it’s also profoundly disappointing.You only have to turn on French radio right now to see what your missing. RMC, intégral tour,,, Quel plaisir quand on travaille et que l'on ne peut pas voir le tour, de tout pouvoir suivre .
"Younger riders, who aren't close friends with the generation who lived through all the doping scandals, are more willing to embrace the notion that the French were just cleaner than everyone else. Says the 32-year-old Sandy Casar, "I don't buy it, you can't ascribe everything to doping. IN the meantime, RMC polled its listeners, asking them if they think the Tour is cleaner this year? Leblanc, like most riders of that generation, is hesitant to embrace the theory. Luc Leblanc, membre de la Dream Team RMCsport : "J'ai l'impression que l'équipe Europcar n'est pas appréciée dans le peloton.
But there’s little post-race analysis and debate, the sort most other televised sports get. "And there was the Festina scandal. Guimard in particular is superb, he brings a sense of humour but puncy analysis. Checkout. C'est leur attitude qui dérange, un petit peu trop de show" ITV and the CN podcast touch on this but the detail and insight is a bit too lightweight for me at times. "I've always raced my way," he told reporters when asked about doping. Sometimes this punditry can be weak. Since then, every year has brought two things: drug scandals in pro cycling and foreigners winning the Tour de France. "On Monday night, RMC, the country's top sports radio station, invited on three doping specialists to debate the question. Their verdict? Unpainted cyclists; Cycling figurine Big size - Scale:1/7; Cyclists Echappee infernale - Scale:1/32. There's plenty to describe the day's racing and some analysis but a lot of audio from the riders. But cycling is a sport where analysis and afterthought should be in real demand.It’s a real shame the podcast isn’t used to greater effect.
© 2019 John W. Miller. The star of that team was a curly-haired French cycling idol named Richard Virenque. His eventual confession of doping rocked France, and French authorities did impose doping controls that are considered tougher than in most countries.There have been no true French contenders in the last decade. "He's like oxygen for us." Guimard in particular is superb, he brings a sense of humour but puncy analysis. De 10h à 11h, « Les paris RMC », l’émission des pronostics sportifs propose un « Spécial Tour » présenté par Serge Simon, Luc Leblanc, Cyrille Guimard et Thierry Bourguignon Voeckler, during his career, has spent 20 days in yellow, surpassed in the last two decades only by Lance Armstrong, Miguel Indurain and Fabian Cancellara.Now he's the first true contender since Virenque.