NEWS | 06/27/2024 | 08:14
by Giorgia Monguzzi
There is less than a month left until the opening of the Paris Olympics and while in Italy we are busy preparing for the Tour de France, in France, waiting for the Grande Boucle, the journey of the Olympic torch continues. Stage after stage, day after day, athletes and non-athletes as torchbearers, made one of the symbols of the Olympic Games travel, also carrying a message in defense of the environment; two days ago among the protagonists there was also a cycling acquaintance: Thibaut Pinot.
Thibaut Pinot, now thirty-four, made his professional debut in 2010 and for 14 seasons he literally animated the hearts of the fans also giving memorable successes. It is impossible to forget his victories at the Tour de France that had ignited the hopes of the French, but also at the Giro and the Vuelta not missing classics such as the Milan Turin and the Tour of Lombardy. After so many successes Pinot hung up his bike at the end of 2023 and retired to his hometown where he dedicates himself to the simple life, he has a farm and animals, but the public has never stopped loving him.
Two days ago, on the fortieth stage of the Olympic journey, the torch crossed the Doubs department in Haute-Savoie from the Parc du Grand Cours in Pontarlier to Besancon. Among the 113 torchbearers of the day there was also Thibaut Pinot who walked a stretch through Melisey, his hometown. On the sides of the road there was literally a crowd that welcomed his champion with applause.
«It is a huge honor for me to be one of the torchbearers – Pinot said on French television -: the torch is the symbol of the Olympics and I am really happy to have had the opportunity to carry it through the streets of the town where I grew up. It’s a totally magical experience». Together with Pinot, other athletes from different disciplines carried the torch to Besancon where a small ceremony closed the day’s stage.
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