Published on : 06/16/2026
There’s been a real taste of July and the Tour de France in recent days. The blazing sun over the Alps (at the Tour d’Auvergne Rhône-Alpes), in the Pyrenees (CIC-Tour Féminin des Pyrénées) and the crowds at the Copenhagen Sprint offered a foretaste of the atmosphere of the Grande Boucle. With 17 days to go until the Grand Départ in Barcelona, the countdown is well and truly on. And to pass the time, there’s nothing better than taking a step back with a book that gently immerses us in the sweet madness of July…
The Cofidis team and ‘Le Monde du Tour’
In a book recently published by Grasset, *Le Monde du Tour*, author Jean-Baptiste Farge offers a unique perspective on the Tour de France. Having been present at the Tour last summer, he spent time in particular with the Cofidis team. Here’s why.
The scene takes place in Lille, a few hours before the riders are presented at the Grand’Place. Facing all the riders, including those from Cofidis, Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, had this to say: “The Tour de France is an incredible sounding board. Don’t forget that, in total, there are more than 10 journalists for every rider! ” Indeed, more than 2,000 journalists are accredited for the three-week event. And among them last year was a striking figure: a young author, Jean-Baptiste Farge.
“The further the Tour went, the more I found the Cofidis team endearing”
A graduate of the École normale supérieure, he wanted to cover the Tour, having grown up in the North, where the Grande Boucle began. Several weeks before the start, he had approached us so he could follow the team closely. As the days went by, Jean-Baptiste Farge became a familiar face, one of those we regularly came across in the paddock and at the finish line.
He also devotes a chapter to a particular experience: during the 7th stage between Saint-Malo and Mûr-de-Bretagne, the author had the chance to take a seat in one of the team managers’ cars. At the wheel was the Basque rider Gorka Gerrikagoitia. Jean-Baptiste Farge then recounts the intensity of the race from the inside. He also describes the incredible battle to join the breakaway, the relentless attacks and the high average speed during the first hour of racing: 54 km/h! He writes:
“Gorka couldn’t believe it. (…)
‘It’s not possible… Fifty-four!
- Madre mia... gasped the mechanic, incredulous, from the back of the car
- That’s modern cycling,concluded Gorka
. They’re going as fast as us in the cars!”
A little earlier, he had this thought:
“the further the Tour went, the more I found the Cofidis team endearing”. After spending three weeks immersed with our team, Jean-Baptiste Farge took pleasure in recounting the event using literary language. He describes the Tour as “
the passing of a cheerful parade”, “a procession of breakaway riders who were always off without warning”, “the physical concentration of their bodies and minds in one place, at one moment”.After the words and the reading – highly recommended – of “Le Monde du Tour”, we eagerly await the action and the Grand Départ on 4 July!
