Midway through last year’s Tour de France, the ‘motogate scandal’ stole the headlines when the photo pool photographer and his driver found themselves sandwiched between the France Télévisions motorbike, the dense crowds, and Tadej Pogačar, who made a lightning-fast acceleration. The incident not only had ramifications on the race itself, but it had long-term consequences as well, and this year, at least five in-race motos have been eliminated.
This weekend the Tour de France enters the Pyrenees, some of the most technical and dangerous roads of the Tour, and the in-race moto drivers are preparing for an intense weekend of their own.
“All of the positions are difficult,” says Philippe Dupeyrat, one of France Télévisions' drivers who carries one of the cameramen throughout every stage.
“When you are in front, you spend 70% of your time looking through the mirror. We are just in front of the race all day long, just a few meters ahead of the riders. We always have to keep our distance, so we have to know when to accelerate on a downhill, or when there is an attack. But behind the peloton is also difficult because there is always something going on. Riders are coming back for bottles, team cars are coming up, you name it, there is always something going on.”
In-race moto drivers like Philippe Dupeyrat must remain only a few metres in front of the Tour cyclists all day long.
Within the race bubble there is strict protocol. Behind the race, all motos must remain on the left side of the road while all team vehicles and official vehicles follow the peloton on the right. Passing is only authorised when one of the Tour de France regulators signals for a moto to pass. But it is not uncommon for motos to be blocked for dozens of kilometres when the roads are technical, or the riders are racing full on.
“My mission is to get the commentator as close to the action as possible and to get him where he needs to be, be it if he wants to drop back and interview a sports director, or get close to the breakaway, you name it,” says Jean-Marie Corteggiani, a former amateur with the historic A.C.B.B. team, who is now driving for the Eurosport in-race commentators like Jens Voigt, Matt Stephens, and Adam Blythe.
“Today it is getting harder and harder to pass the peloton. The riders are going faster and faster and they are more and more nervous about crashing. There are plenty of places, like with the feed zone, when we are going through a town or when there are a lot of fans on the side of the roads.”
Both Corteggiani and Dupeyrat have more than 25 years of experience and are considered the some of the best drivers in the race. But both know that all the years of experience does not protect them from a momentary crisis.
One day Corteggiani will never forget came in the 2016 Tour, when he was driving the France Télévisions moto up the Mont Ventoux. Intense crowds blocked their way and the riders actually crashed into the back of the moto.
“I’ll never forget when Chris Froome started running his bike up the Mont Ventoux,” he recalls. “It was crazy, so intense. We were just in front of him. But we didn’t really know what was going on. It was just so crazy. At one moment Froome was running, the next, he stopped. It was just crazy.”
Dupeyrat with his France Télévisions cameraman Bertrand Bellei
But despite the inherent stress, not to mention danger, neither Corteggiani nor
Dupeyrat would spend the month of July elsewhere. “This is my 30th Tour. I was never a rider, never even once did I race. But I have been a professional motorcycle driver for the press all year round,” says Dupeyrat. “I started this driving very young. I worked for years with France Télévisions and now I work a lot with Agence France Presse. But every year I do the Tour.
“When you are a professional moto driver, you should do the Tour de France. There is no better work that we could do than to be driving in the Tour de France.”
