2023-07-22 17:47:16
The Tour de France is over. Last pedal strokes for the peloton, last efforts for the riders and last interviews. The yellow jersey, Jonas Vingegaard, has not finished giving, he who should be crowned for the 2nd consecutive year this Sunday. Perhaps he will stop at the microphone of Media Pitchounes. These budding journalists, from a sensitive neighborhood in the Toulouse suburbs and aged between 10 and 18, follow the Tour like grown-ups.
Published on: 07/22/2023 – 17:47
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Yellow jerseys on their backs, microphones in hand, the apprentice journalists of Média Pitchounes are in their element. In particular Mounib, 15, who is taking part in the Tour de France for the second time: “ We are an association, created in 2005 “, he explains to us behind his cap. “ She was born in the Bagatelle district, in Toulouse. Every day, we make programs, which last about 20 minutes, and we post them on YouTube. Me, it changes me. Usually, I play a lot of football, and there, I discovered cycling. »
Far from large ensembles, the teenager criss-crosses France, with his t-shirt “ the Tower at the bottom of the towers », slogan of the association. He has just come out of an interview: We just interviewed a runner, Valentin MadouasThibaut Pinot’s teammate. »
Mounib is not alone in his task, a small group of ten young reporters accompany him. Among them is Amina, big glasses on her nose and a big smile on her lips: “ Now I really like cycling, whereas at the beginning of the year I didn’t even think it was a sportshe laughs. I was able to interview Lutsenko, an Astana runner. I want to interview Peter Sagan but it’s my little sister who will do it. »
Interviews with runners… and Emmanuel Macron
In the absence of Peter Sagan, star rider of the peloton, Amina settled for Emmanuel Macron. From the height of her 13 years, she questioned the President of the French Republic: “ I asked him several questions: why does he always come to the Tour during mountain stages ? What bike did he have when he was little ? How did he learn ? Etc. He replied that he had family in the Pyrenees, and that he had learned to ride a bike with his father and his brother. »
Média Pitchoune is also a family story: the little ones have yellow t-shirts, while the older ones are in black. Like Jade Sadmi. At 20, she’s an association employee: ” I did my first Tour in a yellow t-shirt like them, I discovered the discipline, and here I am in a black t-shirt in the staff. It’s my ninth Big Loop, and I went into coaching, I help them with the video ».
From now on, she knows the peloton by heart and initiates the youngest: “ I fell in love with cycling, I fell into the pot when I was very young. I even did an internship at Vélo Magazine. I also try to make them discover, and I like it when they come to see me to say “You saw, so and so took over the yellow jersey, so and so lost time”, it means that they are really interested in what they do. However, it is a sport that they do not necessarily know. It’s not football, it’s not the same media coverage, but for all that they are quite assiduous in discovering this sport. »
“The Tower at the bottom of the towers”
And yet, the bet was not won in advance: at Bagatelle, cycling is an unknown sport. Class “ political district of the city of Toulouse “, this suburb of the pink city is best known for large blocks of buildings and its unemployment rate of around 40%. Since 2009, and the launch of the “Le Tour en bas des tours” operation, nearly 250 young people aged 10 to 18 have been able to discover the Grande Boucle in immersion, under the leadership of Laurent Girard: “ I never had the yellow t-shirt, I didn’t have the right to that “, he laughs. “ We realized that the young people in the neighborhood were not at all interested in the Tour de France. Most of the young people we have with us here knew nothing about the Tour before coming, even the words “Tour de France” et “yellow jersey” were foreign to them. We also realize that the Tour de France neglects working-class neighborhoods. These are two worlds that do not meet. »
Two foreign worlds, which intersect for a summer. The Grande Boucle even passed through Bagatelle for a stage start in 2019. It was a promise from director Christian Prudhomme to celebrate 10 years of presence of Média Pitchounes on the Tour: “ We fought for the Tour to dedicate a stage to working-class neighborhoods, and we succeeded! “, continues Laurent Girard. ” The residents were very grateful. When I meet them, they all tell me “when is the Tour coming back?”, it really marked them, they didn’t know either. It is important to put these territories in the spotlight, they really need it. Unfortunately, it’s not what we see on TV at the moment, but there is a lot of talent in the neighborhoods. We must highlight them, and not hide them! Here, for example, our young people discover a new universe, they will perhaps find their way, discover a job that attracts them, develop a passion or meet someone, because the Tour de France is above all a story of encounters. The little ones grow up with the Grande Boucle, and it does not forget them when they grow up. »
Little Pitchounes who have grown up well: some are still on the Tour, as hosts and hostesses in the caravan or as journalists. At the crossroads of worlds.
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