Patrick Hiriart D 118-FR, sport tipster

This cheeky competitor is easily spotted in his painter’s overall covered in loving and encouraging messages from his friends and family.
A 47 year old managing director from Lyon, Patrick can rightly be called a veteran as this is his fifth participation.
But he’s come for revenge as an injury forced him to give up last year:
“I want to finish the race and to get the best ranking possible at my level, that is around 300th. Here, on the bivouac, friendship rules, but out there on the track, reflexes come back and even if solidarity is still going strong, the game is to try and win a few places in the ranking each day. Seeing the temperature today, I think we may have forgotten what the heat can be like after last year’s wet and mild edition. If it remains as hot as today, with a 82.2 km stage ending with about 20 km of dunes, I fear there might be some casualties… Since we were handed the road-book, even I am getting a bit apprehensive: it’s going to be a very tough one.”