A disappointing 2018 edition?

Last day of rest for the runners before the end of the Great Loop. One week before the arrival on the Champs-Elysées, Thomas Voeckler, our cycling consultant, draws a first badessment of this Tour de France 2018. If the final victory of the Sky team seems inevitable, some questions remain unanswered like those the place of the French or the identity of the winner.

"We have to be honest, it's true that there were times when we could say, rightly, that the favorites were a little wait-and-see and they hesitated to get into the fight for to create differences " explains Thomas Voeckler, who refuses to say that this Tour is less interesting than the previous ones. "We had two days in the Alps, including the stage of Alpe d'Huez, where it was a huge fight, and two days ago, on the road to Mende, in the final, there was There have been more attacks on the overall standings, we still want more, that's true, but I still find that in the Alps, there have been some great successes. "

Our cycling consultant recognizes that the victory of team does not seem any more doubt and extends the arms to the Sky, "but concerning the identity of the runner of this team, yes there is always suspense". "I think that what makes this Tour look a little less exciting is because there is this superiority of the Sky team, they are in the best position to win. the Tour ", continues Thomas Voeckler. According to him, there may still be surprises until the end. "We saw Romain Bardet, who nearly fell on Sunday, who can say that it will not happen to anyone else in the overall standings as long as the last time trial of Saint-Pee- sur-Nivelle in Espelette has not pbaded, we must not draw an early conclusion. "

Thomas Voeckler is not disappointed by the tricolor cyclists "I was still on the bike a year ago, I know what the difficulty of the Tour de France is, but it's true that the French public was expecting more." We would have liked to see Arnaud Démare raise your arms on a finish in the sprint, we know that he has the means, he has two more opportunities, we hope that will be the case. " However, the record of the French remains lean with a single stage victory for this edition of the Tour de France, "but we still have a Frenchman, Julian Alaphilipe, with the polka dot jersey. Warren Barguil very fit ". Franceinfo's cycling consultant believes that French riders can still shine on the end of this Great Loop. "Maybe five days from now we're going to say that the French have had a great race, maybe Romain Bardet will get some more places in the general standings and maybe be on the podium, maybe Warren Barguil will win a mountain stage and Arnaud Démare will win on the Champs-Élysées.This is the ideal scenario, but we must be optimistic " concludes Thomas Voeckler.