"We thought we were on the way to winning the Tour" - Matthieu Ladagnous talks about Thibaut Pinot and his Tour de France 2019

On October 2, Matthieu Ladagnous ended his career. After 18 years, all of which he spent within Groupama-FDJ, loyal to his boss Marc Madiot and his leader Thibaut Pinot. During his career, Ladagnous has participated in 14 Grand Tours, including eight Grande Boucles and has also claimed 11 victories for himself. Cyclism'Actu chatted with Ladagnous about everything, including, who else, than Thibaut Pinot.

"He is someone who is human. He needs to have people around him that he loves. He wasn't looking to have the strongest with him, he wanted a family team. He has goals, but he doesn't stay focused on them all the time. With Thibaut things always went well, we had very good times... and very bad times. But it's part of the sport."

"And that's also what endeared Thibaut to the general public; if he had been good all the time, I'm not sure he would have had as many fans. He's a champion, but he always knew how to stay simple and around us... he's a friend."

Did Ladagnous believe that Pinot could've won the 2019 Tour de France? "Yes, definitely. When he won at the Tourmalet, he was clearly the strongest in the Pyrenees. We didn't talk about it because we didn't want to put more pressure on him, but we thought we were on the way to winning the Tour. He was the strongest, but he run into a problem."