Bernard Thevenet “Pra Loup marked the French” – FranceTV sports

Pra Loup, it was 40 years ago, but you still have some very marked images of that day …
 Bernard Thevenet: Yes, of course. This is the first time I recovered the yellow jersey. This is something extraordinary. I still have pictures of the terrible descent of the Col d’Allos where I really suffered. I was very afraid. After the rise of Pra Loup, I was really furious because I absolutely had to catch up, and when I passed Merckx. Another image, this is where I caught Felice Gimondi in order to win the stage. And then there was the presentation of the yellow jersey …

And that famous corner where you have exceeded the unbeatable Merckx, you remember?
 B. T.: Oh! But it did not last very long. There was a photo which was made this time because the cameras were not present, but it’s sure I remember now. I was especially glad to have repaired my error in the previous downhill end. I was really raging against myself after this bad run, and join Merckx gave me the balm to the heart. But it was not finished, it was chained to join Gimondi, and go win the stage. But I did not at all take the yellow jersey in this step.

Do you understand at that time that you came to mark the history of the Tour?
 B.t: No. On the bike, it remains focused on its effort on his race. I never thought that we would talk 40 years later! But it shows that we have done something extraordinary, which gave much happiness to many people. It’s nice, but it is not necessarily the most beautiful moment of my career.

What have you said with Merckx at the end of step?
 BT: After the race, Merckx congratulated me. There is not much talked about. At the end of the Tour, he acknowledged that I was stronger than him. I admire his sportsmanship, because at one point I popped into a descent and it has not benefited. It was really fair fight. It was a great moment.

What was your best fight?
 BT: If people especially remember this, paradoxically, the fight against Hennie Kuiper, two years later, was more beautiful … But Merckx, Merckx was, he had never been beaten on a great Tour. It was a kind of transfer of power. And the fact that it is a small French who can beat him, inevitably, it marked. I became a hero that day, yes, but Hinault won five Tour! And in Fignon won two … It was also the time when the French won nine Tours in eleven years (1975-1985). After the source has dried up.

Do victory in Pra Loup is the turning point of your career?
 B.t: I do not know. It was a great moment. The day the yellow jersey is coated for the first time, it is extraordinary that instant. It is most significant that a stage victory, especially if you wear it to the end! Pra Loup is ultimately what the French have chosen my career. That may be a bit reductive. I made other exploits, I gained other things that Pra Loup, but this is the biggest memory that they kept from me.