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Teams & Riders Thibaut Pinot discussion thread

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If you don't have a Sky/Postal/Jumbo level team, then you have to be 100 percent focused all the time. Pinot clearly has not been. (And I"m not just criticizine Thibaut -- the crash that took out Bardet, Mollema and Quintana yesterday is another example.)

I'm sorry, I love TP, I'm a naturalized French citizen, but he has some glaring deficiencies as a GT rider.

He could be a one-day monster a la Gilbert or even Nibali. I hope he reconsiders what his next 5 years' goals should be.

Speaking of which, why is he still in the Tour? Drop out, go to the Vuelta and nab a few stages. Sure he could poach an Alps stage but so what? All that would prove at this point is that he's a good one-day racer.
 
I hope he reconsiders what his next 5 years' goals should be.

I think he already is, if his comments about possibly being at a "turning point" of his career is any indication. One thing I find interesting his his comment after stage 8, about how cycling to him is about "fighting, having fun, and winning races." Well... maybe it's time for him to focus on the "having fun" part.

Speaking of which, why is he still in the Tour?

He might not want to leave, and why should he? As long as he isn't further worsening his injury, there's no real need to drop out.
 
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I wouldn't describe Pinot as "weak", mentally. I mean he's overcome a lot of bad luck over the years. That said, I find he has a tendancy to lose it. The way he threw his bottle on the ground when he didn't have the legs at the Dauphiné, the way he exploded on the cobblestones stage in the Tour, the year he had a mechanical incident there... I don't think we see too many other riders react like that.

There's different types of mental strength and I think you highlight it quite well in your examples.

Tibo is clearly a very resilient person - he comes back to try and try and try again despite the constant let downs which is admirable.

However I don't think he is mentally strong in the moment and as a result he is prone to turning bad moments into race losing moments, both outright but also in terms of competitors knowing that they can break him if they just make him start to doubt.

imo he should change his goals for a season and just try reset and refresh a bit and then make a decision about whether he wants to give GTs a further crack or whether he fancies trying to focus on more on one day objectives
 
Thibaut's interview in l'Equipe today:

Title: My duty is to get to Paris

Thibaut Pinot, who was dreaming of competing for the '20 TdF win, feels like he's racing "two stages every day" since he injured his back, and now only thinks about finishing.

Journo: How do you feel ahead of the Tour's final week?

Tibo: I've had worse, I've had better. It's been like that for 15 days now, I'm getting used to it. I'm always hoping that it gets better, even though my back didn't get much better. That's the hardest.

Journo: Are you experiencing ups and downs?

Tibo: I want to say only downs. I can only sustain top-level effort for 30 minutes, after that I fade. I can't do what I want. Some days, I'm the worst rider in the peloton. It's not easy. I had planned to do something that didn't include fighting to avoid being part of the last gruppetto. Since I fell, it's a pain in the ass. I have seldom had such bad legs. My back is hurting, I can't push on the pedals, I'm making twice the effort that I should be making. I'm more tired than the other riders, I feel like I'm racing two stages every day.

Journo: Are you still receiving as much medical attention?

Tibo: Yes, three hours a day, it's a lot, I don't have personal time, it sucks, but without them, I couldn't have carried on. They keep me alive, so to speak, so I can finish Le Tour. And it's important that I finish Le Tour OK and continue the season.

Journo: Are you going to help your teammates win stages?

Tibo: Of course I want to. But to get in a break, you have to be strong. If I can, I will, but I'm limited. I can barely follow the big attacks when stages begin.

Journo: Are you thinking about the RRWC?

Tibo: Of course, it's in two weeks. I told Voeckler that I would give him an answer next Thursday evening. I want to be part of the team but right now there's no reason for me to be in it. There're at least 8 French riders stronger than me, I don't want to take someone else's spot because I'm Thibaut Pinot. Right now, I'm not strong enough to help Julian or someone else win.

The rest is about all the riders in the team being banged up, but resilient, and the bond that is solid between them.

(Expletive)

I'm not sure that continuing is the right thing to do, I respect Tibopino's choice, I understand that he knows what some have written in social media and wants to prove them wrong. "Take his beating like a man" as Mike Tyson once put it.

In my opinion, he shouldn't care. But he does. Stubborn Franc-Comtois. I'm with him.
 
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I wouldn't describe Pinot as "weak", mentally. I mean he's overcome a lot of bad luck over the years. That said, I find he has a tendancy to lose it. The way he threw his bottle on the ground when he didn't have the legs at the Dauphiné, the way he exploded on the cobblestones stage in the Tour, the year he had a mechanical incident there... I don't think we see too many other riders react like that.

You don't? Do you not watch much cycling? Count the number of GT winners and world champions in this vid;
View: https://youtu.be/lLNjF-ex6lE
 
French rider in French team with French sponsors in the French Grand tour has to put on a show for the French people.
i get that he is emotional. My problem is not with him but Madiot and his support team. At least they can logically decide. When the legs are not there the heart cant do more. there are many other choices this year. It is similar to the Bardet situation but at a lesser degree.
 
I understand that he knows what some have written in social media and wants to prove them wrong.

Could it be that he also wants to prove to himself that he can finish?

Tibo: Of course I want to. But to get in a break, you have to be strong. If I can, I will, but I'm limited. I can barely follow the big attacks when stages begin.

Sure not for the lack of trying. He seems to be quite active at the early parts of the stages, then just kind of... runs out of steam.
 
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I hope he finds the morale to remain a GT GC rider. The last thing the sport needs is more GC quality guys like Dumoulin, Carapaz, Porte etc seemingly losing the ambition to even dream of winning the TdF (the pinnacle of the sport) and being happy to play a more minor role to avoid the stress of being the centre of attention.

Like I said in the Bernal thread, the race this year has involved particular sacrifice by riders and team staff, team mates sacrifice for the leader all the time. The leader has to show they will also bury themselves for the team or it could be bad for morale. Now that Guadu has withdrawn though it may open the door for Pinot to leave without a loss of face.

All with the caveat that doctors are certain Pinot isnt damaging his health.
 
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All these guys are just hanging on, at the back of the peloton, Buchmann, Pinot, now Bernal, from tomorrow on probably Quintana, too.
I hope that does not hinder their recovery for the rest of the season, because I would like them to get in great shape for the Vuelta, and then we could have a good race there.
 
You don't? Do you not watch much cycling? Count the number of GT winners and world champions in this vid;
View: https://youtu.be/lLNjF-ex6lE


Ha ha ! Good point... and point taken. That said, maybe i'm reading too much in this and maybe I overestimate my "psycho / mind reader" skills, BUT... In this video I see winners frustrated with a mechanical. They destroy the bike and that's it. Sheer frustration against the bike itself. They don't lose confidence in themselves. When Pinot had that mechanical on the cobblestones a few years ago, he seemed angry at everything and everyone : himself, fate, team mechanics, people around him and he just stopped trying. He didn't take his teammate's bike, for whatever reason. It's like he's losing confidence everytime he has a setback.

2015 TDF stage 4 : Pinot stops at 1h44'

The way he threw his bottle on the ground at this year's Criterium du Dauphiné is also very different from what we see on previous the video with bikes being thrown. Again, he's angry at himself, his legs, fate, god, the competitors, who knows what... the only rider I remember doing that is Thomas Voeckler on the Galibier in 2011 when he failed to bridge Contador and Schlek.

Again, i'm not saying he's weak. Overcoming a setback, and multiple setbacks is super hard and takes strength. But every setback maybe hits him deeper than other riders and destroys his confidence. Of course, it's just a theory.
 
French rider in French team with French sponsors in the French Grand tour has to put on a show for the French people.
i get that he is emotional. My problem is not with him but Madiot and his support team. At least they can logically decide. When the legs are not there the heart cant do more. there are many other choices this year. It is similar to the Bardet situation but at a lesser degree.
Flag waving is fine or showing respect to the race but for Pinot it's impractical re his season. He's paid to perform so he is better off doing what Bernal did and preparing himself for other races. How are the sponsors enjoying Pinot at the moment ? Maybe in the bottle............
 

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