Thomas Voeckler agreed, he does not have many friends in the peloton
Thomas Voeckler has revealed that his aggressive riding style has resulted in a very less number of friends within the sport.
He told L’Equipe, “For the last few years, I’ve been the most popular French rider, sort of the darling, and at the same time, nine riders out of ten in the peloton don’t like me”.
“I understood that very early on, from 2005. The previous year, I had worn the yellow jersey for ten days on the Tour de France, but they felt that from a sporting point of view, I didn’t merit all that interest,” Voeckler continued.
He started riding professionally in 2001, with Team Europcar, and is optimistic to continue his 12th consecutive season with the team.
The 32-year-old had a terrific 2011 season and claimed the overall victories at the Tour du Haut Var and the Four Days of Dunkirk 2011.
He also grabbed stages at the Tour Mediterraneen, Paris-Nice, Giro del Trentino and finished fourth overall at the Tour de France 2011.
Thomas was looking good to claim the overall position during the most recent edition of the French Grand Tour and was cheered by the home crowd.
He held the yellow jersey for ten consecutive stages, stage 10-19 but surrendered it to the Australian cyclist, Cadel Evans, who grabbed his first overall victory of the event.
Andy Schleck finished second, with his brother Frank at the second position. Voeckler finished the race with a deficit of 3 minutes and 20 seconds to grab the fourth overall position at the race.
While commenting on his riding star, he recalled the Tour de France 2006, when Tom Boonen was leading the peloton.
Voeckler launched his attack and Boonen hit him right on his back which resulted in a heated argument between the two cyclists.
He also briefed that his high media profile is one of the reasons behind the jealousy he faced within the sports.
Thomas received the total amount of 420,000 Euros for the 2011 season, which made him the second most highly paid French cyclist after Sylvain Chavanel.
Voeckler is now eying the Grand Tours for the season ahead and it is believed that the cyclist will give a tough challenge to the race favourites, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck.
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