The day of reckoning for FDJ.fr is soon going to be upon them. They will have to announce their Tour de France line up and the whole world will see who has not made the team for the Tour de France out of Thibaut Pinot, Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni.
Manager Marc Madiot says the decision hinges on how well Pinot performs at the ongoing Tour de Suisse. Heading into stage 5, he was only 35 seconds down on Tony Martin, with the real mountains still to come. Demare looks set to start the Tour regardless of his form due to his ability to perform well in bunch sprints and classics terrain. That just leaves Giro points champion Nacer Bouhanni.
He is much faster than Demare in a sprint but the feud between the two may disrupt morale and destroy FDJ’s chances of winning.
"I've come out of the Giro in perfect condition," Bouhanni has told L'Équipe. "After the Giro I even managed to complete training rides of between seven and eight hours. I really rode well and feel that I passed another barrier."
His coach, Jacques Decrion, was even more effusive, describing Bouhanni as "riding on a cushion of air." "For me, he’s stronger than he was during the Giro… He has gained more muscular mass and has greater power output. Mentally, he is also very strong,”" said Decrion.
Bouhanni starts the Rout de Sud on Friday, and Madiot has said that he will announce his Tour line up on Sunday, the day both the French race and the Tour de Suisse finish.
All that remains is to see if Madiot leaves out one of his stars, takes all three or goes with Bernard Hinault’s option:
"As Kittel, Cavendish, Greipel and Sagan will be at their peak during the month of July, I think he would be better served by focusing on attack. Fédrigo, Elissonde, Geniez, Roux, Geslin, Roy, Vichot: these are real racers and are even more dangerous when they don't have a leader’s jersey to defend!" he told the Official Tour de France Guide.
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