"In no case could Pinot not be at the start of the Tour" - Cyrille Guimard agrees with Groupama-FDJ's Tour de France decision
Cycling
After a brilliant performance in the Giro d'Italia, Cyrille Guimard believes it was simply inevitable that Thibaut Pinot would be at the start of the Tour de France and that as such, Arnaud Demare would always be the man to miss out.
"In no case could Pinot not be at the start of the Tour," writes Guimard in his column for Cyclism'Actu. "The Démare problem is much more complicated. Because if you race with Pinot, Gaudu, Madouas, etc... Who do you want to put with Démare?"
Sadly for Demare, who suffered the double blow of missing out on Tour selection and being informed that his Groupama - FDJ contract would not be renewed at the end of the season, the decision to omit him from the lineup was a sensible one according to Guimard.
"We saw it again in the sprint of the 2nd stage of the Tour de Suisse, Démare sans train, it's not McEwen, it's not Cavendish, he's not someone who goes into battle. He needs to be taken away," Guimard explains. "It also means depriving the climbers of a team member who can accompany them up the mountain. So for me, the fact that Démare is not in the Tour is not a surprise. You have to make choices in life. Same when you are a team manager. That's life. The surprise would have been that Thibaut Pinot was not at the start. But it was not possible."
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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▪ Arnaud Démare : « Tout le monde a fait du bon travail. » ▪ Sébastien Joly : « Je pense qu'il avait la victoire dans les jambes. » ▪ Une tunique jaune conservée par Stefan Küng avant la première arrivée au sommet.
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