"When Victor came so close to becoming Olympic champion, everyone was there, we all lost our vocal cords" - French cyclists describe the Olympic atmosphere in Paris

Based outside the Olympic village, in an area closer to their competition and training locations, the cyclists of the French road team are still experiencing their compatriots' Olympic exploits intensely.

The day after Léon Marchand's Olympic double, Valentin Madouas appreciates experiencing these moments together: "As we are lucky enough not to have a TV in our rooms, we watched the finals all together. There are common areas to experience moments like that, it creates an Olympic atmosphere for those of us who are outside the village," he expresses at L'Equipe.

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"We feel the excitement, since we arrived here, there is a positive wave," notes Julian Alaphilippe. "We follow all the disciplines daily, on television. It's a unique atmosphere at the Olympic Games. Just last night, I watched Léon Marchand until 10:30 p.m. even though it's not something I usually do - to follow swimming."

On Monday, it was the mountain bike that brought the Château de Tremblay to life, in an extremely noisy way during the Pidcock-Koretzky duel: "Mountain bikes lift us up," explains Kevin Vauquelin. When Victor (Koretzky) came so close to becoming Olympic champion, everyone was there, everyone was crazy, we all lost our vocal cords."

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