FILE PHOTO: Tour de France - The 177-km Stage 16 from Nimes to Nimes - July 23, 2019 - Groupama-FDJ rider Thibaut Pinot of France before the start. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
NICE, France (Reuters) - Thibaud Pinot left 2019's Tour de France in tears after his hopes of victory were wrecked by injury with Paris in sight, but the Groupama FDJ rider is determined to make the most of a favourable route to become the first French winner in 35 years.
The 30-year-old burst into the limelight when he won a mountain stage on his Tour debut in 2012, two years before finishing third overall, raising hopes that France had finally found a successor to Bernard Hinault, whose 1985 win still weighs heavily on those trying to emulate him.
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