Clément Champoussin especially did not want to miss this Tour de France which will pass through Sospel, the family anchor point, and will end in Nice, his hometown. Despite the Covid which stopped him in his momentum in Dauphiné, where he signed two “top 10”, the climber from Arkéa-B&B Hotels will be leaving Florence today. At 26, the man who is competing in a second consecutive Grande Boucle, leaves with the ambition to be offensive over these three weeks.
This Tour, you didn’t want to miss it…
I am very happy, especially with the arrival in Nice. It’s important to be on the Tour, but even more so this year.
What will your role be?
There will be several objectives, with a group around Arnaud (Démare) for the sprint. And then, I will be there to help Kévin Vauquelin in the mountains. But the team will be offensive. My goal will be to seize opportunities, take breakaways and find myself at the front of the race when possible.
The team is mainly aiming for a stage victory?
The goal is clearly a stage victory. With Arnaud, but also thanks to the escapes.
Have you already checked off any steps?
For me, the first part in Italy and the Alps, as well as the end of the Tour are the most difficult. In the middle of this Tour,
We will have to aim for the hilly stages, between the big massifs. The leaders will want to keep some for the end. So it will be the time of the adventurers.
You have already won the Vuelta (2021), the next stage is the Tour?
It was very good to do it in the Vuelta, but the Tour is a step above. This is the race that can change a career. Already being present at the start is complicated, so winning… But of course, it would be exceptional.
What did you learn from last year’s Tour?
What struck me the most is that every day there are a lot of battles and therefore the opportunities to shine are very rare. Even when you feel very good, it’s so much harder than in other races to manage to stand out from the crowd. The level is even stronger, everyone is 100% ready. And even though it’s been three weeks, the race goes by very quickly…
Is your favorite Pogacar?
Yes, even if Vingegaard won the last two editions, I place Pogacar favorite in relation to the events of recent months. I think that from the first days, we will see more clearly. The big leaders of the general will attack and we will quickly see if Vingegaard is in very good condition.
We saw how Pogacar was gluttonous in the Giro (6 stage victories), are you not afraid that he will only leave crumbs?
It’s clear that he was very solid on the Giro. Around him, he has a team where there are only great champions. We don’t know their strategy, but there will still be room for breakaways that will even go to the end. It happened on the Giro.
The last three stages are in the Alpes-Maritimes. Are you already dreaming of it?
It was really a goal to be present on these stages. Not only is it very rare, but it is the biggest race in the world that is coming home, that will pass through Sospel. It is huge. There will be family, friends on the course. But I do not want to make films in advance, because there are three weeks before. I do not want to add additional stress to myself.
