Thibaut Pinot revealed that wearing the leader's jersey (pink) at the Giro d'Italia is his ultimate goal in his career.

The Frenchman could return to the Giro this season, having competed in 2017, when he finished fourth, and in 2018, when he abandoned on the final day after suffering from fever and dehydration.

Pinot has had a difficult time in Grand Tour racing the past few seasons, tearing a muscle in his leg while fifth in the 2019 Tour de France and suffering back injuries in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Pinot has yet to finalize his 2022 race program, but Groupama-FDJ manager Marc Madiot said in October that there is also a "big possibility" of a return to the Tour de France for the first time since 2020.

Pinot told Ouest-France that he hopes to wear the pink jersey at the Giro, despite never having worn the Tour de France yellow jersey.

"To be French champion, to win a stage in three Grand Tours, to win Il Lombardia ...... To wear the pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia: ...... That's all I'm missing," Pinot said from Groupama-FDJ's New Year's team camp in the Canary Islands.

"For me, the yellow jersey is ...... What can I say, I'm in the real world. The Tour de France yellow jersey was always too big for me as a kid. So I always dreamed of wearing the pink jersey."

Pinot explained that he has been frustrated on the road on his bike for the past two years, battling a back injury that has only allowed him a handful of notable rides. In 2020, for example, he finished fifth in Paris-Nice and second in the Criterium du Dauphiné, but suffered a back injury in the Tour.

Last season, his return to the Giro d'Italia was doomed and he did not compete in the Grand Tour.

"I'm waiting to hurt another rider again," Pinot said. 'I'm disappointed that I haven't been able to show what I've got over the last two years. I want to impress the people who support me. I want to bring them joy in the years to come, especially this year."

Pinot, who is currently at team camp to begin his 13th year as a professional, was not nearly as enthusiastic about the state of camp and cycling in general as he was in his early years in the peloton.

"Training is no longer the focus of this camp. Cycling has changed and we have to get used to it." There is more to cycling than there was ten years ago, things like social networks. When I started, it was more fun and enjoyable.

"The atmosphere is totally different. Training was always serious, but there was a lot of laughter. Today training is even more serious and there is less laughter."

The 32-year-old at least has a future off the bike and a passion for having fun outside of training and racing.

"My life away from cycling is very rich and I'm lucky to be involved with my farm. Some people cycle for five hours and then sit on the couch or a futon waiting for dinner. I don't do that [take out manure, feed livestock, which can take two or three hours a day]. After cycling, I would like to build an educational farm with bed and breakfast and make honey and jam. We already have quite a few fruit trees. That's my dream