Teams & Riders Thibaut Pinot discussion thread

[TommyGun]

I really put the blame on FDJ, they dropped the ball big time, and it is not the first time in the past few weeks. This team is getting weaker every year, it seems. Very worrying...

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Bugga! Pinot's GC TDF is over but on the bright side he sat back today on purpose as if he can get about 10 mins behind the group he is going for KOM, ive just heard it so lets all cheer him on for the polka dots!

Allez Richard!

On a more serious note, he's far enough to get a pass and go for stage wins now...a la post-ban Virenque, and maybe work his way back to a 6th-7th place that way. Very disappointing. Bad luck, and a shitty team. Maybe so (too) much pressure that when things started going wrong, his morale got shattered. He's young. He can learn, get stronger by facing adversity and battling back. A la Andy Murray, so to speak (rather than a la Tim Henman). He's my guy: I won't jump off the bandwagon.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I hear he rides on the mid to back of the peloton because he thinks one is more likely to crash near the front. True?

Didn't like the way he jumped on the young mechanic but I guess it was in the heat of the moment.

He seemed to wait for a long time and then had to change his bike I think. this was not so much to do with his team being weak just bad luck at the wrong time.

 

[Irondan]

Re:

hmm, looks very complicated.
The cobbles stage might turn the French hope into a stage hunter.

This.

 

[cellardoor]

I'm still confused as to what happened. Can anyone enlighten me? I saw him looking fed up with his mechanic but not sure why. Then I saw him refusing to take a teammate's bike - not sure why either.

 

[Wergeland]

He was stock on the big ring. Others Rivers world have Kent on going sine the team car was far behind. Pinot stops, yells at a team soigneur and When Landagnous offera to hive him his bike he won't take it. Disaster. The slightest problem and he cracks mentally.

I see in interviews that he didn't want to take Landagnous' bike because his 10 cm taller. I've seen on Twitter someone mentioning that Pinot is 180, Landagnous is 181. So, 10mm, not 10 cm!

Martin won on Trentins bike. Contador finished last years cobbled stades without a working front mech.

Pinot neads to learn how to keep calm and keep on fighting. Of not his cafeer as a GC rider will soon be over.

 

[Campervan man]

Re:

FDJ as a team was disgraceful today. Where were Chavanel and Demare who were supposed to be Pinot's designated bodyguards for this stage? Both of them vanished after the first proper sector. After that it was only Pinot and Ladagnous and then Ladagnous seemed to just give up at some point (could've been a mechanical) and left Pinot to fend for himself. Of course it was just rotten luck that Pinot punctured halfway through the longest sector but that's when you need your team. It was also quite weird that he stopped just before there was a FDJ mechanic waiting with a spare wheel, it was a matter of few hundred meters, surely he could've continued with the flat tire for that much more.

Should evaluate what he wants from this Tour now. He could still reach the lower end of TOP10 but that probably won't satisfy him after his 3rd place last year. Best would be to lose more time and save energy for the mountains and then take a couple of stages and the KOM.

Chavanel rides for another team!, so Pinot would be lucky to have his help.

 

[Liquigas]

Re: Re:

FDJ as a team was disgraceful today. Where were Chavanel and Demare who were supposed to be Pinot's designated bodyguards for this stage? Both of them vanished after the first proper sector. After that it was only Pinot and Ladagnous and then Ladagnous seemed to just give up at some point (could've been a mechanical) and left Pinot to fend for himself. Of course it was just rotten luck that Pinot punctured halfway through the longest sector but that's when you need your team. It was also quite weird that he stopped just before there was a FDJ mechanic waiting with a spare wheel, it was a matter of few hundred meters, surely he could've continued with the flat tire for that much more.

Should evaluate what he wants from this Tour now. He could still reach the lower end of TOP10 but that probably won't satisfy him after his 3rd place last year. Best would be to lose more time and save energy for the mountains and then take a couple of stages and the KOM.

Chavanel rides for another team!, so Pinot would be lucky to have his help.

He's talking about Sebastian.

 

[nelsonsmen71]

Re: Re:

Bugga! Pinot's GC TDF is over but on the bright side he sat back today on purpose as if he can get about 10 mins behind the group he is going for KOM, ive just heard it so lets all cheer him on for the polka dots!

Allez Richard!

On a more serious note, he's far enough to get a pass and go for stage wins now...a la post-ban Virenque, and maybe work his way back to a 6th-7th place that way. Very disappointing. Bad luck, and a shitty team. Maybe so (too) much pressure that when things started going wrong, his morale got shattered. He's young. He can learn, get stronger by facing adversity and battling back. A la Andy Murray, so to speak (rather than a la Tim Henman). He's my guy: I won't jump off the bandwagon.

Brilliant post Tonton, we learn all our best lesson thru failure and disappointment. I like you will not turn my back on Thibaut and his demise from a brilliant stage 1 to end of stage 2 has been so great I also do not believe its form and sadly more to do with being immature. His head lowered when he dropped mins in stage 2 which was compounded with every stage since. The great thing about this is for me it proves he thought like the few of us that he was going for the Maillot Jaune in Paris and once that had gone he gave up. I think our belief in him and his own belief that he was strong enough will be proved in the mountains with not only stage wins but possibly now the KOM, although I think someone in his team of moreso a loved one that he respects needs to put their arm round his shoulders and just say Ok Thibaut the GC has gone but the TDF is not over, go out there and show these doubters how far you have come and what you can do, make the world stand up and take notice, Allez!

 

[Simurgh]

Well, that was the top 5 dream he waved goodbye to yesterday. A shame, but hopefully he can bounce back in the mountain stages and getting a stage win or two. As many mention here, the FDJ squad was bad 2 days ago, and have been in some time. Though it is nice to see a French podium contender in a French team, it might be better for Pinot if he moved to a non-French team. With Contador gone in 1,5 years, Tinkoff will only have Majka as their GC man, and here could Pinot fit in and be a co-captain in the team. All this is not likely though..

 

[RedheadDane]

Random question:

His trainer, Julian Pinot, is that a brother?
Not only do they share a name - I guess 'Pinot' could be a common French name - they also look rather alike.

 

[Nastyy]

Re:

Random question:

His trainer, Julian Pinot, is that a brother?
Not only do they share a name - I guess 'Pinot' could be a common French name - they also look rather alike.

Yes, Julien is Thibaut's bro.

Seems like Thibaut hasn't given up all hope for the GC, judging by the way they chased back after his fall.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Random question:

His trainer, Julian Pinot, is that a brother?
Not only do they share a name - I guess 'Pinot' could be a common French name - they also look rather alike.

Yes, Julien is Thibaut's bro.

Seems like Thibaut hasn't given up all hope for the GC, judging by the way they chased back after his fall.

Here's his interview in l'Equipe online.

"Je suis bien décidé à ne pas lâcher. Le Tour, ce n'est pas que le général. Il y a tellement d'objectifs à aller chercher encore, tellement de belles étapes de montagne."

"I'm not about to give up. The Tour, it's not just a GC. There are still many objectives to reach, so many beautiful mountain stages".

This will help him toughen up for the years to come. He got knocked down, now lets' see how he reacts. He's a Franc Comtois. It's still a long way to Paris. Fireworks on Bastille day?

 

[nelsonsmen71]

Re: Re:

Random question:

His trainer, Julian Pinot, is that a brother?
Not only do they share a name - I guess 'Pinot' could be a common French name - they also look rather alike.

Yes, Julien is Thibaut's bro.

Seems like Thibaut hasn't given up all hope for the GC, judging by the way they chased back after his fall.

Here's his interview in l'Equipe online.

"Je suis bien décidé à ne pas lâcher. Le Tour, ce n'est pas que le général. Il y a tellement d'objectifs à aller chercher encore, tellement de belles étapes de montagne."

"I'm not about to give up. The Tour, it's not just a GC. There are still many objectives to reach, so many beautiful mountain stages".

This will help him toughen up for the years to come. He got knocked down, now lets' see how he reacts. He's a Franc Comtois. It's still a long way to Paris. Fireworks on Bastille day?

I think he is going all out for KOM - making sure he has lost enough time in GC to be allowed to break when he desires, lets hope he loses more time in TTT Pinot in Polka dots, got a certain ring to it hey

 

[vedrafjord]

"I lost all speed," Pinot said. "I was stuck on the big ring and had to change my bike. It was a mechanical problem but I wasn’t enjoying a great day either. I didn’t want to take the bike from Mathieu because he’s 10 centimetres taller than me. I was just waiting for my own bike."

Is there a French version of this anywhere because there must be something wonky with this translation? I don't see anything wrong with being stuck on the big ring on a flat stage, unless he actually means stuck on the biggest rear cog i.e. lowest gear on the cassette.

I heard somewhere that Pinot and Mathieu had different pedals so the shoes were incompatible but I'd be stunned if that was true because having different incompatible equipment would be a suicidal thing for a team to do, even one as incompetent as FDJ.

Anyway, I'm no fan of uncritical Jens mythologising, but at least he wasn't fussy about taking a kid's bike (with toeclips!) when he crashed on a descent.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

"I lost all speed," Pinot said. "I was stuck on the big ring and had to change my bike. It was a mechanical problem but I wasn’t enjoying a great day either. I didn’t want to take the bike from Mathieu because he’s 10 centimetres taller than me. I was just waiting for my own bike."

Is there a French version of this anywhere because there must be something wonky with this translation? I don't see anything wrong with being stuck on the big ring on a flat stage, unless he actually means stuck on the biggest rear cog i.e. lowest gear on the cassette.

"J’étais sur le grand plateau devant et le onze dents derrière et puis je ne pouvais plus changer de pignon ni de plateau." He was stuck on the big ring and small cog, couldn't change either.

 

[Simurgh]

I've read that Pinot apparently has had to deal with bronchitis the last couple of days, and that he couldn't get treatment because of the MPCC rules, that forbids the use of corticoids despite having a medical reason for it. Can anyone confirm this??

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

I've read that Pinot apparently has had to deal with bronchitis the last couple of days, and that he couldn't get treatment because of the MPCC rules, that forbids the use of corticoids despite having a medical reason for it. Can anyone confirm this??

Yes, he was using medicinal plants instead.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

I've read that Pinot apparently has had to deal with bronchitis the last couple of days, and that he couldn't get treatment because of the MPCC rules, that forbids the use of corticoids despite having a medical reason for it. Can anyone confirm this??

No, this is not true. The MPCC rules forbid intra-articular corticosteroid injections unless they are validated by a team doctor who also prescribes eight days off racing, rule 4. They could use inhaled corticosteroids with a TUE is required and I think there is little evidence that intra-articular corticosteroids are any better for treatment of bronchitis than inhaled corticosteroids. In fact I don't think there is much evidence that inhaled corticosteroids are that good for treating bronchitis, I think they just relieve symptoms.

 

[staubsauger]

Either you give a *** on MPCC an let him use his medicine or you give a *** on the Tour de France and let him heal and prepare for the Vuelta instead. But let him ride along like a goof thanks to illness is priceless idiotism FDJ!

 

[SafeBet]

Great to see him staying in the race and not giving up.
He's got the potential to win a couple of stages and the maillot a pois.

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

Either you give a **** on MPCC an let him use his medicine or you give a **** on the Tour de France and let him heal and prepare for the Vuelta instead. But let him ride along like a goof thanks to illness is priceless idiotism FDJ!

He can use corticosteroid inhalers with a TUE, if they think it will help, and still race AND FDJ can still be part of the MPCC.

 

[Nastyy]

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) told letour.com this morning: “My injured knee is getting better. I'll see today how it goes. We've had two quiet days. It's been good for everyone. We should have another nice day on the bike today. I'm looking forward to Tuesday in the mountains. After the rest day, I'll figure out what I can really hope for in this Tour de France. I'm six minutes down, I can't target the top 5 anymore and I'm not interested by the top 10. So a nice stage win in the mountains will be my goal. The polka dot jersey could be a goal as well but it's complicated because of the points scale at the finishing summits.”

So contradicting what Madiot said earlier, Pinot has shifted his focus from the GC to stages and possibly the polka dots. Like he said, the mountains classification is unbalanced because of the double points at the top of l'Alpe, Plateau de Beille and La Pierre-Saint-Martin. Also the gap between 1st cat and HC points is just too big. You can't go on Virenque-like raids anymore and win the jersey.

Hopefully he can catch Froome and co. by surprise on La Pierre-Saint-Martin and snatch the victory on Bastilles day.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) told letour.com this morning: “My injured knee is getting better. I'll see today how it goes. We've had two quiet days. It's been good for everyone. We should have another nice day on the bike today. I'm looking forward to Tuesday in the mountains. After the rest day, I'll figure out what I can really hope for in this Tour de France. I'm six minutes down, I can't target the top 5 anymore and I'm not interested by the top 10. So a nice stage win in the mountains will be my goal. The polka dot jersey could be a goal as well but it's complicated because of the points scale at the finishing summits.”

So contradicting what Madiot said earlier, Pinot has shifted his focus from the GC to stages and possibly the polka dots. Like he said, the mountains classification is unbalanced because of the double points at the top of l'Alpe, Plateau de Beille and La Pierre-Saint-Martin. Also the gap between 1st cat and HC points is just too big. You can't go on Virenque-like raids anymore and win the jersey.

Hopefully he can catch Froome and co. by surprise on La Pierre-Saint-Martin and snatch the victory on Bastilles day.

There seems to be some confusion/dissent in this FDJ team. I'm really not sold on Madiot as a DS. FDJ stays way back in the peloton. That's not how you ride if you have GC aspirations. They will lose more tomorrow. Pinot will be at 8 minutes on rest day. Then, hopefully he can take off on Tuesday: Froome and Contador shouldn't care too much, keep the time gap manageable and let others freak out and do most of the job. What are Movistar and BMC going to do?

 

[nelsonsmen71]

good luck Thibaut Pinot, I think your going for this one today ))