Tony Gallopin will celebrate Tour de France lead on Bastille Day

The French have something extra to celebrate during Bastille Day on Monday: a Frenchman in the lead of the Tour de France

Tony Gallopin on stage nine of the 2014 Tour de France

(Image credit: Graham Watson)

Tony Gallopin. A Frenchman in yellow for Bastille Day. It’s so French you could keep cheese in it. Last time that a Frenchman took the lead in the Tour de France it was Tommy Voeckler in 2011. The time before that was 2004, and that was Tommy Voeckler as well.

Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) is from one of the grand families of French cycling. His father Joel and uncle Guy rode ten Tours de France between them in the 1970s and 80s. His uncle Guy was French time-trial champion, and is now a directeur sportif at Trek Factory Racing. But Tony will take pride of place in the family’s palmares as the first Gallopin to wear yellow.

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Michael Hutchinson is a writer, journalist and former professional cyclist. As a rider he won multiple national titles in both Britain and Ireland and competed at the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was a three-time Brompton folding-bike World Champion, and once hit 73 mph riding down a hill in Wales. His Dr Hutch columns appears in every issue of Cycling Weekly magazine