40 years of hurt

When the Tour de France starts on 5th July, it will be 40 years since a French rider last won the yellow jersey. Cyclist investigates the reasons why and speculates on when we might again see a French rider top the Parisian podium

- Words James Witts Illustrations Rob Milton

Who are the French guys who can win the Tour this year? It's a subject that's served at the table every July,' says Romain Bardet, whose second place in 2016 is the closest a Frenchman has come to breaking his country's 40-year Tour de France hoodoo. Not since Bernard Hinault held off fierce rival and teammate Greg LeMond in 1985 has the home nation won the greatest prize in cycling. But why?

'French riders not winning the Tour? Yes, it applies a degree of pressure. But it's the same in tennis at Roland Garros. It's something we have to put up with,' Bardet continues. Roland Garros is the Parisian home to the French Open tennis tournament. Mary Pierce was the last French woman to win there in 2000. You'd have to go back to 1983 and Yannick Noah for the last French male.

'These comments come mainly from people who don't follow cycling all year round,' Bardet says. 'We haven't won but we haven't had a bad past decade or so. In 2014 we had Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot on the podium. Then I finished second in 2016 and third in 2017. But people know how tight a grip Team Sky had on the race back then. It would have been a big surprise to see someone else win.'

That grip was iron-like, the British team winning seven Tours in eight years, starting with Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and concluding with Egan Bernal in 2019.

Bardet has a point when he says French riders haven't fared as poorly as that headline stat might suggest. Still, even when battling for the podium they haven't realistically looked close to taking the yellow jersey. In 2014, Vincenzo Nibali beat Péraud by over seven and a half minutes, while in 2016 Bardet finished just over four minutes behind Chris Froome, who wore yellow from Stage 8 onwards.