Tour of Spain (August 17 to September 8)
How did you experience the criticism regarding your failed Tour de France (65th overall)?
I didn’t pay attention. I went home to Nice, I enjoyed myself, I went fishing. My family was at home, that kept me busy. I didn’t touch the phone. I already knew that my Tour was not successful, it wasn’t going to change my outlook on things.
What is your goal when you arrive at this 2024 Tour of Spain?
The goal will be to replay the general classification. It’s been a long time since that was the case for me. Between my covid and the last difficult week, I finished the Tour de France completely exhausted. But since the beginning of the season, I have been preparing for this sequence of two major Tours. We will see from the first mountain stage (4th stage) where I am.
What would a successful Vuelta be in your opinion?
Have fun and, at the very least, manage to get into the top ten overall. If I can win a stage, I’m not going to hold back. It would do me a lot of good.
Is the Top 5 possible?
Maybe… I will have to be at more than 100% of my capacities and surpass myself. Between Kuss, Mas, Almeida, Yates, Vlasov or Rodriguez, the level will once again be very high even if, of the “fantastic four” (Pogacar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Roglic), there is only Roglic. I will set myself precise objectives at the end of the first week.
You mention Enric Mas or Aleksandr Vlasov. Do you feel that you have regressed in the world hierarchy compared to them, while you have often dominated them in recent years?
With my problems over the last two years, I haven’t been able to progress as I wanted. They have continued to get better. Picking up as much as I picked up on the Tour de France was difficult. I enjoyed myself on three stages at most. But I don’t think it’s a deal-breaker. I intend to close this gap next year.
How do you experience it?
I can ignore it. Cycling is not an exact science… except for Pogacar and Vingegaard. For ordinary people, it is more difficult to maintain your level from one year to the next. And this year, I was never at 100%, I never had enough time to get back to my level. I sometimes hit my head a little but I always got back up. I always believed in the next race and I believe in this Vuelta.
Do you feel the pressure of having to absolutely deliver results?
Of course… I may have a victory (at the Tour du Jura), but my 2024 is not a good year at all. I need to have a good Tour of Spain to erase everything that happened before and get my head above water.
Could failure cause you to abandon general classifications in the future?
The general classifications are what I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid. They’re what drives me. This year, I experienced the Tour de France by watching it from afar. It was a pang in my heart. When I was in the breakaways, when I was caught and then dropped by the big guns, I told myself that my place was there, in this group of 10-15 riders.
