Water can

More anticipated than the peloton, for some it is the object of all lusts. Launched by the runners, the container is happy. At each stage, whatever the team, for the youngest, it is a legendary socket. To get there, you have to stand out and redouble their inventiveness. On social networks, with a few pieces of cardboard, fans reveal their techniques: sign, target, landing net and even basketball basket.

“It is for cyclists to have a challenge, so that they are targeting in the basket“Explains the young boy in the basketball basket. Next to him, a fan with a sign sums up the spirit of the Tour:”The idea is to draw attention. But obviously, I don't draw attention. But it's okay, we have fun, that's the essential!“What do runners think, it takes arguments of seduction to get a can? To believe them, nothing is left to chance.

“It is directly for the youngest because that's what made me dream when I started the bike. So I really try to make the maximum of young people dream“, admits Kévin Vauquelin, of the Arkéa-B & B team.”When I was 5-6 years old, I went on the roadside in the Pyrenees and picked up 2-3 cans. Afterwards, I put them in my room and kept them until I was 18. Okay, now they are in the attic, but that makes memories for life“Confides Benjamin Thomas of the Cofidis team.

Once in good hands, these trophies often end up in a teenage room. Even if on the internet, some are trying to resell their loots: a can at 30 euros, up to even 400 euros for another ad. Among the enthusiasts, there are few taking, and these relics of the Tour de France have no price. “”We collect them because they are really rare. We are proud to have them“, Helves Samuel Bebrouck.

With his net, Samuel, 17, made the world tour a few days ago. His feat: having succeeded in catching in extremis the can of Geraint Thomas, winner of the Tour de France in 2018. A star whom the young man finds a few days later. An autograph, memories and a well -stocked net, sometimes it takes little to make people happy.