Tour de France teams throw jabs at each other over alleged beer drinking during off day
The manager for the Dutch cycling team Jumbo-Visma says he saw members of a French squad drinking “large beers” on the second rest day of the Tour de France.
Jumbo Visma manager Richard Plugge, whose rider Jonas Vingegaard leads the event, criticized Groupama-FDJ cyclists for not taking the event seriously.
“We were with a French team at our hotel during the rest day. We could see riders drink large beers,” Plugge said, via ESPN. “Alcohol is poison, and when you’re tired [and you drink], it makes you more tired.”
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(L-R) Felix Gall of Austria and Ag2R Citroën Team, Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Team Jumbo-Visma and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates during stage 20 of the 110th Tour de France 2023 July 22, 2023, in Le Markstein, France. (Etienne Garnier/Pool/Getty Images)
Plugge added that Vingegaard’s success had been because of his attention to “details.”
Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madiot did not react pleasantly.
“Who does he think he is? Frankly, it’s an exceptionally vile attack on his part,” Madiot said. “Let him keep his mouth shut. I don’t intend to see him. I don’t care about him. I’m not going to go and see him. I’m angry. It’s pathetic. I don’t watch what he puts in his riders’ bowls.
Giulio Ciccone from Italy of Lidl-Trek, Krists Neilands from Latvia of Israel and Premier Tech and Pierre Latour from France of Total Energies riding during stage 20 of the 110th Tour de France 2023 July 22, 2023, in Le Markstein, France. (Joan Cros Garcia/Corbis/Getty Images)
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“How can somebody dare to say something like that,” Madiot added, saying the claims weren’t true. “They weren’t at our dinner table. Other members of the team have drunk a beer. But the riders were on Perrier water.”
Madiot continued to rip Plugge for his sentiments that Madiot’s team was not taking the event seriously.
“What is this comment getting at? That our riders aren’t serious, that they don’t train? I’d like to point out that the following day’s TT, I told our riders to go all out. Our eight riders were all in the top 80. And the day after I had four riders in the break, so he can shut his mouth,” Madiot said. “People have to stop saying whatever they want. It’s shabby, shabby.
Groupama-FDJ team’s manager Marc Madiot attends the presentation of the 2023 FDJ Groupama team in Villepinte on the outskirts of Paris, Dec. 9, 2022. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP)
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“I don’t give a damn about what he says,” Madiot continued. “I’m not going to lower myself to the point where I go see him.”
Vingegaard is seeking his second straight Tour de France victory.
