Gulpama-FDJ rider Anthony Lou was fed up with all the trash on the side of the road during his training rides. He first picked up that bottle and began stuffing other trash into his back pocket. Then he carried a bag with him so he could pick up more at times, and as he continued to "go a little higher," he started a campaign to encourage others to do the same in their hometowns.

The French rider turned his stagnant Twitter account into Anthony Roux's mon parcours propre, or my clean route, and created a video, hoping that people who saw him getting his hands dirty would act on it themselves, in his area of He worked with officials in Borum-les-Mimosa.

"Our lives have become so easy that it has become a chore to pick up a newspaper," Roux told Groupama FDJ in an interview. We also say to ourselves: "One should not throw it away, it is not for me to pick it up." Or, "Someone else will do it." Even though we know it will never be picked up in some places. It's easy to say, 'You're an idiot to throw it away. But you're also stupid not to pick it up. Just because someone makes a mistake doesn't mean they can't correct it."

According to Lew, he has long been concerned about the litter littering the roadsides in the area where he trains, but last winter, after seeing discarded beer bottles day in and day out, he decided it was time to start picking up that and other trash.

"For a long time, I was like everyone else, complaining but not willing to take action. Many agree that it is terrible and unacceptable. I said the same. But they did not stop to pick up a piece of paper and put it in the trash.

However, over the past year, I estimate that Lou has taken his bag out on the route about 20 times, using his non-race recovery day rides at home as an opportunity to collect trash. While riding for a couple of hours with a bag full of trash isn't necessarily fun, and it may not be something he does every week, he admits that "it's a nice gesture with an automatic payback."

"For me, I just wanted to use sports and physical activity to contribute," Lou says. 'My goal is very simple. It's to create your own route, whether you're biking or walking, and make it as clean as possible. I tell myself that if everyone has a clean route, everything will be clean. I created a route to run on recovery day. I was concerned about seeing it dirty, so I challenged myself to "clean it up."

Regarding the new litter rules in professional cycling, Lew praised the move, but said some work may still be needed to better define where the zones are.

"I think the peloton is following along and in fact we are being watched closely. 'We were fined twice in the Vuelta. I didn't know where that area was. It depends on the race."

Lou said that while being fined was a blow, "on the other hand, I was happy because it shows that this issue is being taken seriously. We are on the right track