Determined to reconnect with the cycling world, Mangeas
attended the Critérium de Lisieux. “I told myself that I wanted to come back.
Well, it was complicated, it wasn’t that simple. And then I went to see the
Critérium de Lisieux, and there I noticed that the sequence of sentences was
much less fluid than before, but that things were coming back, getting back
into place.

“And I saw the happiness around me. Paul Lapeira came and
gave me his French champion’s jersey, he wanted to see me, so it was a moment
of happiness. And then I also saw Kévin Vauquelin, who accompanied me, who
obviously wished me to return to the highest level. So everything is gradually
getting back into place, but what I’m most satisfied with is that there are
automatisms that are constantly coming back. I believe that the sport of
cycling and the love I have for cycling allow me to regain positions that are
gradually becoming very favorable.”

His focus now is on patience and perspective. “Finally, I
realiSed that life was worth living, and from there, I’m not going to get
worked up, I’m going to do things properly, and if gradually, things evolve in
the right direction, I’ll be happy, of course, to find my friends again, who
are friends of cycling.”

For Mangeas, decades behind the microphone forged a unique
bond with the sport. “How could I say and explain this? There are more than 50
years of microphones, so there is obviously a kind of intimacy that is
established. I am part, if you like, of this cycling family, and it has
returned the favor, as you said earlier. I had many emotional moments, reading
a paper, receiving messages of sympathy, and all of this obviously touched me
enormously. You can put it however you want, in whatever order you want, but it
was a truly happy moment.”

The summer also brought him joy from the roadside as France
celebrated its first Tour de France champion, male or female, since 1989. At
the Tour de France Femmes, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot achieved a stunning victory.

“For me, she was phenomenal. I already remember her, she was
17, she was the French cadet champion, she was competing in the Polynormande in
the cadets. I had seen this little woman, she already had character, because
she had finished right among the best with the cadets. And I said to myself
when I sat down in front of my television screen: ‘Ah, let’s hope she
succeeds!’, because I know her a little bit, she has her character, she is
extremely charming.

“She knew, she wanted, she had set herself this challenge,
she really wanted to test herself on the Tour de France.

“And then, as I was saying earlier, it’s phenomenal, because
she got this title. She was an Olympic champion, she was a world champion,
multiple world champion, she sets goals for herself, she wants to achieve them,
and she’s a very, very great champion. For me, that’s the word, she’s
absolutely phenomenal.”