Eleventh in the general classification this Saturday morning, Jordan Jegat entered the top 10 on the eve of the arrival in Paris thanks to his seventh place on the 20th stage. But the Frenchman saw his day be marked by the hostility of certain runners, who did not see his presence in the breakaway with a good eye.
Very exactly four minutes and eight seconds separated Jordan Jegat from Ben O’Connor (Jayco-Alula) and from 10th place in the general classification before the 20th stage this Saturday. But at the end of the 184.2 km between Nantua and Pontarlier, it was the French who closes the top 10 after a day spent in the escape and a stage ended in seventh position.
>> Relive the 20th stage of the Tour de France
“We resurrected the Top 10,” joked the runner of the Totalnergies team on arrival, he who said the day before that it was “dead”. “It is true that I did not necessarily believe it. I am a fairly constant runner, I do not let go. In my head, there is always a hope. You always have to believe it and give everything. If it was not the top 10 today, I would have played the stage victory, that is what was initially planned. But when I saw that I was digit
“We are free to do what we want”
However, the day was hectic for Jordan Jegat who was not just friends. Despite a substantial delay at first glance on Ben O’Connor in the general classification, his presence in the breakaway was not seen with a good eye by the Jayco-Alula which therefore rolled his men in the peloton.
“Trying to speak to Jegat and tell him that he is not welcome,” said the sports director of Picnic Postnl in the headset at his runner Frank Van Den Broek, also present in the breakaway. The presence of the tricolor has long been challenged, sometimes ardently in the image of Simone Velasco (XDS-Astana) which was seen asking her to stop, or at least returning to the peloton to leave the escape of the margin.
And the Italian has probably lost its ways. “He insulted me with all the names. He reproached me for having taken the escape when it is the game. We all have a bib, we are free of our choices and to do what we want to calm down, I never answered him. I did not understand everything about his Italian but when someone insults you, you necessarily understand the words”, details Jordan Jegat Tadej Pogacar. “Tim Wellens went to see him to tell him to calm down, he told the whole breakaway that I had the right to do what I wanted. With others, it was cordial exchanges, they told me that I did not facilitate their task but that is part of the game.”
“It is also a satisfaction compared to the general public”
And to continue: “Sport, for me, is also a matter of fair play, respect, and today there were none. In football, there are a lot of yellow cards for that and I would like it to be the same in the bicycle. (…) We all have a sponsor, we must respect our commitments, if I want to make a top 10 (general), I have to go forward, everyone is aware of it. my audacity. “
An audacity that paid: the 26-year-old Frenchman now has 1’52 ahead of Ben O’Connor (Jayco-Alula) in the general classification when only one stage remains: the arrival at the Champs-Elysées. “The top 10 is not yet acquired, it remains to end tomorrow. We must stay focused,” he tempered. “If I arrive tomorrow to finish top 10, it represents a lot, I hope it will be a springboard in my career.”
“When you look at a classification, you look at the first 10. It’s a bit like my career, I have no victory, I am always a little under the radars, those who follow cycling from afar do not know me. Entering the top 10 is also a satisfaction compared to the general public,” he concluded.
