INTERVIEW: DUMOULIN & GALLOPIN
Tony Gallopin and Samuel Dumoulin are two of Ag2r’s key riders, and career-long friends. They rode together first at Cofidis and got reunited at Ag2r last year. They tell Procycling about life as French riders on a French team, in an international sport
The Ag2r La Mondiale duo on their friendship and life as French riders on a French team
"It’s taken a few years to work out where I’m going, which races I like and which races are good for me. I’m proud of my results” Tony Gallopin
Procycling: How are things for you both, as we go into the 2019 season?
TONY GALLOPIN: I’ve had a good winter. I took things seriously and everything is going well. With January came harder training and efforts, so it’s tiring, but I feel good.
When you say ‘ good winter ’ , what does that entail for a professional cyclist?
TG: The main thing is to be in good condition and healthy, to be able to train properly after the break at the end of the season. To do that you have to take things seriously, but also make the most of the extended time at home with the family. The aim is to get to January at 100 per cent.
And Samuel, is that the same for you?
SAMUEL DUMOULIN: Yes, ça va, ça va. For me, after all these years, it’s sometimes harder for me to force myself out to train, but I have adapted and kept my desire through the winter. Really, it’s a case of training through winter in order to keep my motivation up for the races.
How has the recovery from your accident been ?[ Dumoul in fainted on his bike during the 2017 Tour d el' A in, and subsequently underwent neurological testing .]
SD: No problems. I’ve undergone all the tests you have to do with these injuries, and everything is clear, so I’m relaxed about racing, and I’ve done a whole season since the crash.
Has your approach to the season become different as you go through your 30s?
SD: It’s true that over the years, training and racing has changed. Sometimes motivation is harder to find, but it makes you better at working out what you really want to do.
It’ s your seventh straight year with the team and your 11 thin total. How have you and the team changed over the years?
SD: Our ambitions have evolved over the years. The level of the riders has gone up and there are far more people involved in the team these days, on every level. But it hasn’t changed suddenly – the structure has evolved over time. The team has evolved; me, I just… am!
Tony, you signed for Ag2r at the start of last year, so have been with the team a lot less time. Do you feel at home yet?
TG: I’ve learned a lot here. I got used to the way the team ran in my first season, though I did bring some experience with me as well. We’re adapting to each other and it feels comfortable here now. I’m not a very difficult person to work with, I think, so I’ve felt at home in all my teams. There are no worries here.
You were together at Cofidis eight years ago, between 2010 - 11 . What are your memories?
SD: Tony was really developing into a highlevel rider at that time. He’d done two years at Auber, but I remember him already doing the Vuelta in 2010. He quickly progressed and we knew he would be a good rider. Cofidis in 2010 was a little different, but the atmosphere was good. It was a challenging time, we weren’t a big team, and it was hard work at times but we had good results like David Moncoutié in the Vuelta.
Tony, your CV is quite international–as well as Cofidis and Ag2r, you rode for RadioShack and Lot to. Why did you choose that route?
TG: It was just a path that opened. My uncle worked at RadioShack. I don’t regret
riding abroad at all – I learned a lot in my different teams, riding in a different culture and riding for different leaders. It was just my choice.
On the other hand Samuel, you’ve ridden for only French teams…
SD: I can’t really make the comparison because I’ve only ridden for French teams. I turned pro six years before Tony and then it was rarer for French riders to go abroad. To find my level and express my talent, I didn’t need to go abroad. I found my place and took the opportunities I had and for me it was better to be in a French team than to try and find my way in a bigger organisation, which is the opposite of Tony. It let me progress at my pace and find my role.
What is your role on the team now? Sprinter ? Road captain?
TG: And granddad!
SD: More road captain. I’m competitive still, though I get fewer results than I used to. But with that comes a different kind of pressure – I help the younger riders, give them advice and set a good example.
TG: He’s got so much experience so he brings a lot of serenity to the team. As the team has got more serious he’s developed into that role where he can motivate the riders or support them during hard moments. It’s not always easy, but he keeps morale up.
What’s your role Tony? Are you a leader?
TG: We’ve got two real leaders in the team – Romain Bardet and Oliver Naesen, who are the two most important riders. But I have ambitions in certain races. Sometimes my best role is to support Romain or Oliver, sometimes it’s to be the leader. I like that position in the team. That’s not to say that I’m avoiding pressure.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well.
How do you go about improving as cyclists?
TG: Like every year, we work on details with the trainers. The DSs help us to improve in all aspects, and I’m still working on getting stronger. I think my best years are still ahead and you always hope to be better than last year.
SD: When you get to a certain age, you’re looking to not get worse, rather than to get better! I’ve already expended a lot of mental and physical energy over the
course of my career so I’ve learned how to keep my level but not cost myself too much. I live in the Alps, so when it’s zero degrees outside, I don’t worry about it and I work more on everyday things, maybe alternating indoor and outdoor sessions so I don’t exhaust myself physically or mentally. It’s my 18th professional season and the level is more homogenous now, so you have to work hard with the team to make little gains. Races are getting harder and harder, and the strategy more difficult, especially in some races which are tactically very blocked. But overall, you have to keep questioning yourself and asking how you can improve so you can always find the best solution. That includes the team – getting the right riders and the right strategy for each race.
You are both French on a French team. The sport is becoming more international. How do you feel about being French riders, or is that less of an issue these days?
TG: Well it’s not something we chose! The sport is so international these days – each team is international at the top level. The level is so high and involves so many different nationalities that being French is neither here nor there, it’s not an advantage, but nor is it a disadvantage.
SD: At the start of my career, it was an advantage for me being French. There were more French teams, and the teams had more ethical guarantees. If you had the results, you could find a place, and you’d be better paid than foreign riders on the same level. That’s all behind us now. You get a lot of French riders riding for foreign teams and vice versa, so everybody has internationalised. You’re getting South American and African riders breaking through and training methods are spreading so everybody is at a high level. But French cycling is still strong – look at the World Championships last year, where the French team was possibly the strongest. We’ve got a very strong young generation coming through as well.
Are you conscious during the Tour, for example, that it’ s such a big deal both internationally and at home?
TG: It’s important as a Frenchman but also as a cyclist. Winning a stage gave me a lot of pleasure but I also enjoyed my wins elsewhere. You’re aware in France that it’s a big deal, and that everybody follows the Tour because it’s the biggest race, so winning there changes your life more than other wins.
SD: I agree, but the thing about riding the Tour is that when you’re in it, racing, you’re less aware of what people are saying because you’re focused on the game. There are more crowds, of course, but we are in the machine, in our routine. It’s when you get back and people talk to you about it that you realise what an impact it has. But I’m aware that riding the Tour is a rare privilege.
You’ve both won Tour stages. Are they career highlights?
TG: I’ve worn the yellow jersey for a couple of days, but a stage win is really exceptional on a personal
level. However, what the public really remember is the yellow jersey. They say, “Ah, you’re the former yellow jersey wearer,” not, “You won a stage of the Tour.” It’s the image of cycling and of the Tour. But in terms of personal feelings, winning the stage was huge.
It’s 11 years since your stage win, Samuel…
SD: Thanks for reminding me! Of course, it’s a big memory. A huge emotion, but there are other achievements in my career which I find just as pleasing. Two years ago I won the Coupe de France for the third season. It got less coverage and it’s a different thing, but for me, building that win, which takes a whole season of good results, is a big deal. I didn’t have it won until the last sprint of the last race, so it came down to the last 200 metres of the season. I was really emotional about that.
Any other results that you’re particularly proud of?
TG: For me, winning the Clásica San Sebastián in 2013. I wasn’t expecting that
at all. That race is also part of my background because when I was young, there were 10 races in the World Cup and that was one of them. So I always felt it was up there on the same level with Paris-Roubaix or the Tour of Lombardy. It’s a true classic in my eyes and I was very emotional to have won it.
You were 11 thin the Vuelta last year. You’ve won classics and ride well in one-week stage races. What are you good at?
TG: I’m good everywhere without being the best. In modern cycling that works fine, but it’s taken me a few years to work out where I’m going, which races I like and which races are good for me. I’m proud of my results and I hope to get some even better ones, but there is one race in particular I want to win before the end of my career, and that’s the French road championships. It’s a regret of mine not to have won it yet – I’ve not been far off, but you don’t always choose the races you win.
What is it that draws you to cycling?
TG: Mainly, I used to watch Samuel Dumoulin when I was young [laughs]. But I come from a cycling family. I was good when I was young and the passion came from that. I like sport and tried a lot of sports but this was the one I’m good at.
SD: There are two sides to it. I like the feeling of speed, I like the suffering, I like the technical side of things… Adversity and fighting against it… I’m interested in the strategy - races are not always decided on who is strongest. Cycling allows you to discover different landscapes, different regions and countries and I like that. After all that, what really hooked me on cycling was that when I was young I was even smaller than I am now, and I was mocked a little for it. When I started getting results on a bike, it changed people’s perceptions of me a little. That motivated me to continue and try to get better results and be able to affirm myself.
Ag2r is a good team and one with along history. It’s not got a big budget like some other teams, so what do you do here to fight against Deceuninck in the classics or Sky in the grand tours?
SD: We don’t have the power to control races in the same way as those teams. But we still have the ambition to win the Tour, we just don’t have the strength to do it in the same way as Sky; we have the ambition to win the Tour of Flanders, we just don’t have the strength to do it in the same way as Quick-Step. But that’s our ambition and we have to work with what we have, with the terrain and with our strengths and find a solution to attain our goals. We can’t crush the race, though. We try our tactics and work with counter-attacking, like a football team might.
What are your goals this year?
TG: Paris-Nice is an important race for me and the team. It will also be my first attempt at the Giro d’Italia so I’m looking forward to discovering that. Following that, maybe the French championships and the Tour. At the Tour, my ambition will be to help Romain. Then the classics at the end of the year. The Giro is a hard race, more mountainous than the Vuelta so I’ll see what happens in the first week. If I blow up, I can fight for a stage win.
SD: For me, I want to take as much pleasure as possible from racing. I’ll race the Coupe de France, like every year, and serve the team as well as I can. And I want to help Tony win the French championships.
Will you be a professional cyclist next year, Samuel?
SD: My contract ends at the end of this year. We’ll see.
TG: He’s got to ride for at least three more years – I want us to retire together!
"I like the feeling of speed, I like the suffering, I like the technical side and the strategy - races are not always decided on who is strongest” Samuel Dumoulin