Punished by his body, Thibaut Pinot is forced to watch the Tour de France 2021 on his sofa. And even if the Haut-Saônois must be frustrated at not being able to face the best riders in the world, the latter has still given news of his back. Things are better for the FDJ runner, but he is not yet fully recovered.
Thibaut Pinot’s body has been dictating its law for almost two months. But in reality, it has been going on for almost a year. After a terrible fall during the first stage of the Tour de France 2020, the back of the Haut-Saônois went “off”. Indeed, it is this part of the body, so important for a cyclist, that makes Thibaut Pinot suffer. So much so that the latter had to give up the Giro this year. So the Groupama-FDJ rider decided to give his news. After almost two months without putting on a bib (last time on the Tour des Alpes), Thibaut Pinot is getting better, but not yet enough to become competitive again in a race. The latter explains, on his various social networks, his mishap in recent weeks. “To continue pedaling in recent months, I had to compensate by soliciting other muscles to relieve my back, which led to pain in the hip, lumbar, gluteal muscles, psoas …” Thibaut Pinot did not have therefore not the impression of getting out of it, on the contrary. So, the Haut-Saônois took matters into his own hands and carried out a whole series of tests aimed at pinpointing the defective areas of his body, to then undergo some treatments at the beginning of May. Then followed three weeks of “complete rest”, says the professional cyclist.
Since then, Thibaut Pinot has been doing a little better. “I have just finished a six-week cycle where my days were punctuated with 2 hours of cycling in the morning, and session in the afternoon with a physiotherapist at home. “Relatively short days for a runner of this caliber, who usually has much heavier workloads. But now, the objective was to resume little by little, by finding sensations. And this goal is almost achieved since the Frenchman is feeling better and better and finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel. “A lot of parameters have improved over the past two months. I can now start to lengthen my road trips. This is an important step in regaining a condition allowing me to start a race in full possession of my means, ”explains the Groupama-FDJ rider. Resuming the start of a race is the next goal, but one that is not yet entirely relevant. Indeed, Thibaut Pinot still suffers a little from his back, and is not yet 100% to be able to register his name on the start list of a cycling race. Case to be followed in the coming weeks, months.
Mattéo Rolet
Photo credit: Belga / Icon Sport
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