Bryan Coquard, by the letter of Jean-René Bernaudeau’s law, should not go to the Tour de France this July. After informing the Direct Energie team manager of his desire to leave at the end of the season, the sprinter’s ordinarily secure spot on the Tour roster was thrown into doubt, and he was given an ultimatum: Win at the Critérium du Dauphiné or you’re staying at home.
“If he gives us guarantees, he will go,” said Bernaudeau ahead of Tuesday’s stage 2. “Guarantees, that’s winning a stage at the Dauphiné. If he beats [Arnaud] Démare, that would be good news.”
Coquard finished 10th on that day and, after the break foiled the sprint teams the following afternoon, Coquard had his final chance of the Dauphiné in Mâcon on Thursday. He finished third, with Démare in second.
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“Guarantees don’t mean anything,” the Frenchman told a group of reporters after coming to a halt outside the Direct Energie team bus.
“I read in the newspapers that a guarantee was me winning at the Dauphiné. If you absolutely have to win a stage to be at the start of the Tour, there won’t be many there,” he added with a grin.
Coquard, confident and firm so far in his public handling of a thorny situation, has clearly not lost his sense of humour.
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