Consultant for France Télévisions on the Tour de France, Thomas Voeckler tries to make people forget that he is also the coach of the Blues.
On Sunday morning, Thomas Voeckler will not be in the commentary for the world championship road race, with his usual friends Alexandre Pasteur, Laurent Jalabert and Marion Rousse. And for good reason, the former Tour de France yellow jersey is also (mostly) the coach of the France national team. And he makes sure that his double hat is not too visited when he is on the bike to comment on the Tour de France or Paris-Nice.
“We have a tacit agreement so that I am not quoted on the air as coach of the France team, we try to make a clear distinction between my two activities”says Voeckler in the columns of L’Equipe.
Also read: Private Alaphilippe by Marion Rousse
Known in the platoons for his outspokenness and very relaxed style on the air, the former darling of the French public admits that he sometimes listens to what he says about the tricolors when he comments. “If the question is that one day I was able to stop myself from criticizing a rider that I have in the French team, the answer is yes, he explains. although I am not in the habit of being very aggressive with riders as a whole. I never forget the harshness of this sport, if I criticize it, it must be really justified. I never speak to make a joke. I don’t need it to exist. »
Marion Rousse sees no problem
Voeckler’s Tour de France colleague Marion Rousse also faces a similar problem when commenting on the Tour de France or any race involving teammate Julian Alaphilippe. But she doesn’t see anything wrong with it. ” It’s normal actually. For me, that is not a problem. It’s not difficult, I’ve always had perspective on everything, on all issues. And suddenly I manage to take a step back in my professional life. And I think the day you can’t have this retrospective anymore, it’s probably time to change jobs because it’s clearly not a match.”he explained during a podcast with Borders in the spring.