“Romain Bardet who resists the return of the peloton controlled by Wout van Aert, it’s a foretaste of Monday’s match. France 1, Belgium 0!” Released live on Saturday afternoon from the finish line in Rimini by the commentator of the RMC radio, the little phrase has definitely launched among followers of the Tour de France a “hot” subject between riders for several days already. If, in the press conference granted to the international media before the Grand Départ in Florence, Remco Evenepoel had teased his audience by bluntly announcing a well-packed 4-0 for the Devils, the imposing contingent of 28 Belgians wants to be more measured in its prediction.
“A prediction? I’ll try for a 2-1 for us, even if I fear the score will be reversed”, smiles Oliver Naesen, the only one of our compatriots involved in the French Decathlon AG2R team. “In 2018, I had already experienced the semi-final of the World Cup while I was involved in the Tour. No need to tell you that I don’t have unforgettable memories of it. (laughs)… I had colored my cheeks with black-yellow-red makeup in the middle of an audience in which I was the only supporter of the Devils among about forty French people because I was then more confident than for the match of this Monday. I had gone back up to my room a little more than 90 minutes later, dejected, without a glass of champagne in my hand (laughs)… I could already see myself celebrating Belgium’s accession to the final. I’m not a football fanatic but I follow the major international competitions, even if I find the Euro less sexy than a World Cup. The arrival of the 3rd stage in Turin is not too late (Editor’s note: around 5 p.m.) but I haven’t figured out our transfer to the hotel yet. If we’re not back for kick-off, we’ll look at it on the bus.”
Julien Jurdie, sporting director of AG2R-Citroën and big supporter of ASSE, sees the Tour arriving in Saint-Étienne: “One foot in the cauldron, the virus is inoculated”
For his first Tour de France, Piet Allegaert will experience the meeting in a context comparable to that of Oliver Naesen. “I still think I’ll feel a little less alone than Oliver, smiles the runner from Cofidis. With the sports director Thierry Marichal and another compatriot who is an osteopath, we are sticking together as Belgians. I share my room with the Frenchman Guillaume Martin on this Grande Boucle but he is not a football fanatic, he has not really teased me so far. I hope that this will not change on Monday at the end of the evening, that would be a good sign. (laughs). The biggest football fan on the team? Bryan Coquard. He really watches a lot of games.”
guillementI converted Bini, he will support France.
Conversely, the Frenchman Hugo Page also risks experiencing a lively encounter within the Intermarché-Wanty collective.Sorry to disappoint you and to shatter your hopes but for me, it’s already been seen, we’re going to win this round of 16, launches the native of Chartres. I am the youngest (22 ans) of our selection and I’m being gently teased so far, but I hope to get my revenge on Monday evening (laughs)… I share my room with Biniam Girmay and I managed to convert him: he will support France! The Tour is a kind of great human adventure and I find it nice to experience a match like that during the Grande Boucle. We haven’t really decided on a program or precise organization yet, but we will certainly all sit together around the same screen to watch the match. The members of the staff are fans of football and sport in general and I believe that our sports directors will happily postpone the traditional debriefing.”
If the 32 French riders and the 28 Belgians involved want to be in front of their TV for the 6 p.m. kick-off, it is in any case likely to go quickly between Plaisance and Turin.
Romain Bardet winner of the 1st stage and yellow jersey of the Tour de France: an ode to instinct
