in Troyes, Anthony Turgis is reborn in the dust – Libération

2024-07-07 16:22:56

Tour de France 2011dossier

In a great stage on the white routes, the Frenchman from TotalEnergies won and took his first victory on the Grande Boucle.

“So much dust! What dust!” Facing these white paths in the vineyards of Troyes, one is not more excited than President MacMahon who, the legend says, “only water, only water”, in front of the flooding of the Garonne. The proof comes to us: from Troyes to Troyes, through the wine routes marked by Champagne, the Tour de France has a really great idea to imitate Strade Bianche or Tro Bo Leon. For the spectators, faced with the rounds of turns and turns during the eleven white roads, the pleasure is complete, but also guilty: it is clear that for the champions, the punishment has checked this stage and it is enjoyed by all This dust that enters. eyes, lungs, spread over the bodies, turn men into terracotta warriors of the Qin Emperor.

In this little game of the strongest vacuum cleaner, the surprise was great: the victory came from a Frenchman, who was not expected, Anthony Turgis. The French rider, who saw his younger brother forced to stop riding because of a heart problem, won the race after a long breakaway from fifteen other riders. In the end, only eight remained, and faced with big names like Tom Pidcock or Jasper Stuyven, the TotalEnergies rider did not shake. Always placed (second to Milan SanRemo in 2022) is not a winner, in 30 years, has not won since 2019 and moderate Paris-Chauny. When he arrived, his face red with emotion, he said: “I know I’m in a group where things are moving very quickly. I almost broke down. He was truly brave to the end.” This is already the third victory for a Frenchman on the 2024 Tour, after Kévin Vauquelin and Romain Bardet. Having rejected all the desires for the general, they look for other existing ways.

The fight at the front, and the fight between the leaders, is not far away. In the peloton that quickly decreased after the first stone and narrow hills, first Remco Evenepoel, then Tadej Pogacar tried to leave the other favorites. Jonas Vingegaard also returned to the wheels, thus killing the attempts to escape narrowly. “If you want to run like that, that’s fine with me, reacted angry Tadej Pogacar. He scared me. » Remco Evenepoel added: “It’s a shame Jonah didn’t ride with us. We can take three or four minutes. But hey, that’s the trick. » Overall, there is no major change, with three appearing on cloud nine. Tomorrow, the day off is more than expected.

To take a step back, on Monday, reading enthusiasts in the peloton will open the culprits of the Road, by Albert Londres, legend of the 1924 Tour de France They will know that on Sunday they experience a stage from the past, when the bad roads were one of the central elements of the event that arrived every evening, at the end . a performance. This word, “dust”, is one of the favorites of the author, and of the participants, who are happy with it, as in this passage:

He shouted: “It is almost one o’clock: “It is time to eat our dust.

– How many kilometers will we have today?

– One hundred and twelve!

– Fast! cried the parties, rising up, drunk with joy.

Hooray will be shouted again this evening Anthony Turgis who will be right to return to these roads, and fill a small white clay, in a small pot, as a souvenir.