“La Conti” Groupama-FDJ took advantage of its stay in the West Bohemia Tour last week to build confidence. In addition to Reef Roberts’ stage victory on the second day of racing, the French development squad also secured third place overall and the best young rider jersey, again thanks to the New Zealander, while also claiming the team classification.
On Saturday, the day after Reef Roberts’ first victory in the U23 category, “La Conti” tackled the second stage of the West Bohemia Tour. The hardest one on paper. “There was 2,700 metres of elevation and an 8-kilometre climb averaging 6.5% after 45 kilometres,” explained the group’s sports director, Jérôme Gannat. “We wanted to be in the breakaway, which could benefit from a small lead ahead of the climb. The goal was to have as many riders as possible in the final, where some groups could come back from behind.” The first part of the race meant a fight for the bonus seconds, and Reef Roberts lost his provisional podium overall at that point. Subsequently, Titouan Fontaine managed to join a four-man breakaway, shortly before the main climb of the day. “He got about a minute’s lead,” said Jérôme. “The pace was moderate in the first part of the climb, but very fast in the second. The breakaway was caught, and there were around twenty riders in the lead with Reef, Rémi and Baptiste. Titouan was in a group of about thirty men behind, which made it across after about twenty kilometres of chasing”.
“It was an important race,” Jérôme Gannat
Afterwards, another three-man group broke away. Rémi Daumas tried to join them, unsuccessfully, but a sprint ultimately concluded the day in Klatovy. “Town finishes in the Czech Republic are unique, with quite a few turns and some cobblestones,” Jérôme said. “We weren’t quite in the mix in the sprint. Reef finished 23rd, dropping one place overall while losing his white jersey.” On Sunday, the final stage was expected to be less selective around the city of Plzeň. “The goal was to be in the breakaway, because we knew a bunch sprint was coming, and we didn’t have the riders to compete in those circumstances,” Jérôme added. “Baptiste was part of an initial move, but the peloton came back to contest the first intermediate sprint. There was a counterattack shortly afterward, and Titouan found himself in front with seven riders. They took forty seconds; we thought it was gone, but the peloton took on the chase again to contest the bonus seconds, 20 kilometres later. It was a fast race, then the day’s race incident occurred just as everything was about to come back together.” After forty-two kilometres, a massive crash sent nearly twenty riders to the ground, and the stage was neutralized.
It wasn’t until an hour later, after the ambulances returned, that the riders were able to resume racing. “There was a new start, and Baptiste again joined the breakaway with four riders,” said Jérôme. “They got up to 2’40, but in the very fast, final forty-five kilometres, with a small tailwind, the gap quickly decreased, and a sprint finish was almost certain.” In another twisted final, Reef Roberts managed to do better than the day before, but was unable to go beyond tenth place in the sprint. On the other hand, the New Zealander got the third place back on the overall podium, as well as the white jersey, after one of his competitors retired after a crash. “We’re mostly satisfied to win the team classification,” added Jérôme. “It’s all the more satisfying because we had chosen to take the start, even though we only lined up four riders out of six. It was an important race of this second part of the season, at the U23 level, where they faced riders their own age. They could show their capacities, they were all part of breakaways, Titouan had a very good prologue on the first day, and we were very active during the first stage. Rémi also finished fifteenth overall, and we will obviously remember Reef’s win.”