Thibaut Pinot jokes about continuing for one more year if he wins French Championship: "It's a jersey that could still make me think"

Ahead of French Championship, Thibaut Pinot spoke to AFP about his ambitions for the race. Pinot had enough time to recover from his great performance at Giro d'Italia, where he finished 5th overall and became the race's Maglia Azura winner.

"My personal ambition is simple: it's to win. Afterwards, there will necessarily be a race tactic and the important thing will be to bring back the title with the team," declares Pinot. "It's going to be a very tiring circuit. Had it been 200 kilometers and only the final wall, it would be hopeless for me. But with 4000 meters of elevation, we are no longer in the same type of race. It's more about resistance. And when you come out like me of a Grand Tour like Giro, with the kilometers you necessarily have in your legs. It is perhaps a small advantage that I will have."

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At the start of the year, Pinot had announced the possibility of continuing his career after 2023 if he were French Champion, but that no loger seems relevant. "I said that jokingly. For the moment I'm not too delirious," explains Pinot. "But you know it's always been a dream for me to wear this blue-white-red jersey. It's a jersey that could still make me think. But for now we're not there. We have to win the race first."

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Final startlist Tour de France with BIB | Vingegaard, Pogacar, Cavendish, Van der Poel, Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Bernal, Pidcock, Sagan and Girmay