Is it these days that you don't miss as a rider? That there's almost nothing to do against UAE if Pogacar wants to win?

Yeah, true.

To be fair, it can be really hard to accept.

During the preparation for the tour, you like to project yourself when the course is released in October.

And then it helps you keep the fire alive over the...

I mean, over the winter when you have to spend three weeks at altitude doing nothing much, nothing else than riding your bike.

And then you said, ah, this is a good stage for me.

Yeah, hopefully, it's always, you know,

[laughs] It's like the, the halfway house.

I mean, yeah, somewhere in between.

I mean, it was, it's super good because I could also, um- Stop my kind of athlete life in my own terms, you know? Yeah.

Also, I'm working with, uh, friends, a really nice brand, best brand on the market, and it's been an amazing year.

Yeah.

Also, more time to travel with the family, going from places to places, riding my bike with no pressure.

And still, I, I love to also push it, so I got some stimulus from some races, and, uh, no, it was really a, a nice year.

Next year, you wanted to finish on the podium again, but it finished with this long flat time trial in Marseille, and you had, um, you had to defend, and it, and you ha- and it was really close.

Romain, est-ce que tu as déjà songé à arrêter suite à un échec ou une désillusion ?

Alors oui, depuis ta question précédente, j'ai cheminé un petit peu pour plonger dans les souvenirs parce que ça remonte un peu.

Mais effectivement, en 2019, j'ai vécu une saison très difficile.

Je suis tombé au mois de mars, une commotion qui n'a pas été détectée.

J'ai repris l'entraînement beaucoup trop rapidement.

J'ai perdu entre 10 et 15% de mon potentiel physique sur le court terme.

Je sortais d'un cycle assez ascendant sur le Tour de France entre 2014 et 2018.

Romain, est-ce que toi, c'est un échec d'avoir jamais gagné le Tour de France ? Ou tu te dis, d'avoir fait deuxième, c'est déjà le plus beau succès que je