Guillame Martin:” Tour de France and Olympic Games are my goals…and Liegi too”

He did not win in 2020 but he was one of the protagonists of the season. We are talking about Guillame Martin, the leader of Cofidis, who thrilled us along the roads of the Tour de France and the Vuelta of Spain. We talked with him about the last season, his expectations and … Christmas

“Guillame, your passion for cycling: when did it start? Is this a family tradition and when did you realize that you could become a professional cyclist?”

I have always liked sport, I always had the strength to stay in competition and competition has always been a central value of my family. I think team sports are not for me,  I need to express myself as individual, and even if cycling is a team sport it’s perfect for me. My father rode at the amateur level when he was young and I started cycling at 12-13 years old and I have always done it very seriously but I’ve never thought I want to make it as a job.
Luckily the results arrived, at first in the amateur level in France, then the victory in Liège Under23 opened the door to become pro.

“You are an all round cyclist, with an excellent sprint and great tactical intelligence. A perfect one-day classics man but it look like you are focusing your career on the Grand Tour races. Can you explain this choice?”

I think every year I take part in the classics and there are other one day races and so I really think I mix the two. I don’t know if I privilege the Grand Tours, but I have good recovery capacity and endurance so it is sure that on stage races I feel good and on one day long races like the Classics I also arrive to pull my game plan and I will try to win them in the future. The Tour of Lombardy, for example, is also a race that I manage to include in my program in 2021, I did not took part to it last year because of covid and I like to be’ protagonist.

Your passion for philosophy is well known among cycling fans: what is the meeting point between philosophy and cycling?

I don’t know if there is necessarily a meeting point between these two. For me these are two things that I like and do without really making any connection. I do not know if it is necessary to force to find links between the two or there is not necessarily … for me, if it is necessary to establish a link I do it with fun through my book “Socrates au velo” … but it was about the life of the mood, almost my self-vision.

“Plato or Aristotle, innatism or empiricism, on which part do you belong?”

It’s not necessary to choose. I have in my mind the image of the Rafael painting  “The school of Athens” where we see Platone raising his hand to the sky and Aristotle bringing down his hand instead. I think the cyclist should be both at the same time: we could be like Aristotle, related to the earth in the concrete and to train every day to improve and following the idea of Platone, so we can do it through the philosophy of knowledge so I think there is no need to choose.

“Christmas time: this year under your tree there is a wonderful polka dot jersey as the best climber at the Vuelta and a podium at the Dauphiné but two other gifts you were looking for, namely the top 10 at the Tour de France and a stage at the Vuelta of Spain are missing but you were so close. How do you see the glass, half full or half empty? In such a particular year, are you satisfied?”

I am rather positive and optimistic and we should also look things in a correct perspective. The 2020 season could also have not taken place so for this reason it was very successful. A victory didn’t arrive for me but it was also compensated by two or three beautiful things like third place of Dolphine and in the Vuelta of Spain I was very close to win a stage, but I consider the the polka dot jersey like a victory. This was a really successful season.

“Next Christmas: what do you want to find under your tree? A pink, yellow or red jersey? Or are there also other wishes such as a tricolor jersey or a Liège?”

I would like to receive several gifts. About the pink jersey, I don’t think so, but without deviating too much from my program, there are more possibilities to wear a yellow jersey than a red one. I also have in mind to take part at the Olympics. The experience with national team was great last year at Imola with Alaphilippe, so the Olympic Games in Tokyo is an important goal and I don’t forget the Liege. So I hope to receive many gifts this year.

Anna Caimi