“I realised that life was worth living” – Legendary commentator Daniel Mangeas discusses illness, Vauquelin, and Ferrand-Prevot

Daniel Mangeas, the unmistakable voice of the Tour de France for more than four decades, has faced one of the toughest battles of his life. The 76-year-old, who called the race from 1974 until his retirement in 2014, suffered a stroke earlier this year. Now, after months of recovery, the former baker turned legendary commentator has spoken to Cyclism’Actu about his journey back.

“I tell myself today that life is beautiful, because I went through difficult times, times of doubt. I couldn't express myself, it was impossible to put one word after the other, in front of the other. And that was a time when I wanted to find my friends again, I wanted to find the whole cycling family, all my buddies, etc. I said to myself: ‘I'm going to get there, I'm going to get there.’”

Treatment and rehabilitation at Le Normandy in Granville, a facility also recently visited by actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, brought steady progress. “There was great support from the doctors, the nurses, and it gradually came back, it got back into place. At one point I said to myself, ‘Hey, I've found a new word.’ It hasn't evolved 100% yet, but it's going to be a challenge, and I can see that the desire to achieve it fully motivates me, it pushes me every day.”

Determined to reconnect with the cycling world, Mangeas attended the Critérium de Lisieux. “I told myself that I wanted to come back. Well, it was complicated, it wasn't that simple. And then I went to see the Critérium de Lisieux, and there I noticed that the sequence of sentences was much less fluid than before, but that things were coming back, getting back into place.

“And I saw the happiness around me. Paul Lapeira came and gave me his French champion's jersey, he wanted to see me, so it was a moment of happiness. And then I also saw Kévin Vauquelin, who accompanied me, who obviously wished me to return to the highest level. So everything is gradually getting back into place, but what I'm most satisfied with is that there are automatisms that are constantly coming back. I believe that the sport of cycling and the love I have for cycling allow me to regain positions that are gradually becoming very favorable.”

His focus now is on patience and perspective. “Finally, I realiSed that life was worth living, and from there, I'm not going to get worked up, I'm going to do things properly, and if gradually, things evolve in the right direction, I'll be happy, of course, to find my friends again, who are friends of cycling.”

For Mangeas, decades behind the microphone forged a unique bond with the sport. “How could I say and explain this? There are more than 50 years of microphones, so there is obviously a kind of intimacy that is established. I am part, if you like, of this cycling family, and it has returned the favor, as you said earlier. I had many emotional moments, reading a paper, receiving messages of sympathy, and all of this obviously touched me enormously. You can put it however you want, in whatever order you want, but it was a truly happy moment.”

The summer also brought him joy from the roadside as France celebrated its first Tour de France champion, male or female, since 1989. At the Tour de France Femmes, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot achieved a stunning victory.

“For me, she was phenomenal. I already remember her, she was 17, she was the French cadet champion, she was competing in the Polynormande in the cadets. I had seen this little woman, she already had character, because she had finished right among the best with the cadets. And I said to myself when I sat down in front of my television screen: ‘Ah, let's hope she succeeds!’, because I know her a little bit, she has her character, she is extremely charming.

“She knew, she wanted, she had set herself this challenge, she really wanted to test herself on the Tour de France.

“And then, as I was saying earlier, it's phenomenal, because she got this title. She was an Olympic champion, she was a world champion, multiple world champion, she sets goals for herself, she wants to achieve them, and she's a very, very great champion. For me, that's the word, she's absolutely phenomenal.”