Yoann Offredo, the wheels of misfortune

Sitting on a rock along a stream, Yoann Offredo turns his head left and right. He shakes his shoulders and kneads his right bicep. He says, "I haven't slept for a few days." He hesitates. "I was leaving a restaurant in Toulouse, where the Tour stopped, and a guy fell from the sky." He stops. "There was a huge noise and, all of a sudden, complete silence." A homeless man committed suicide, jumping from the top floor of a parking lot. The former professional road cyclist continues: "I blame myself. I don't know what, but I feel a huge injustice." This tragic news story is all of Yoann Offredo, 38. He wants to save the world, sometimes forgetting to save himself.

We meet on the slopes of Mont Ventoux, in the village of "Malaucène," whose name evokes the saga of Daniel Pennac. With his comic book hero face, his blond locks, his youthful features as if drawn in pencil, the France Télévisions consultant could be one of the writer's characters. A mixture of "Benjamin" (he means well, but attracts trouble), "Petit" (he has to live with his nightmares), and "He's an Angel" for the Christ-like dimension inherent in all runners.