The 80th Vuelta a España’s first week came to a close on Sunday at the Valdezcaray ski resort, after a fourth summit finish in nine days of racing. While the day’s stage was won by Jonas Vingegaard, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team reached the first rest day with quite some satisfactions in the bags.
Nearly 200 kilometres were to be covered to complete the first part of the Vuelta a España. The last thirteen kilometres, towards the summit of Valdezcaray, were supposed to determine the winner, but the first sixty kilometres were also crucial. From Alfaro, a fierce battle took place. “Like many, we thought the breakaway would go all the way today, so the tactic of all the teams this morning was to not miss the breakaway,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “This led to a very lively race at the start. We tried, again and again, but unfortunately it didn’t work.” After fifty kilometres, five men managed to open a gap, but they had to keep pushing for almost another half hour before going clear. The peloton then eased off, but only temporarily. Two teams showed their ambitions to win the stage, so the breakaway could never hope for the day’s victory, and all came back together at the bottom of the final climb. “Clément was motivated to give it a go in the final,” said Frédéric. “He fought well and finished near the top 30 (31st). It was still a satisfying day because the group is doing well.”
“We were up there almost every day,” Frédéric Guesdon
While Jonas Vingegaard won and Torstein Traeen retained his red jersey in this ninth stage, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team could look back with satisfaction on the week that has passed since leaving Turin. “We started very well, and we were up there almost every day,” said Frédéric. “Winning in a Grand Tour is huge, and we did it in the first week thanks to David. It put everyone on the right track, then we went on to take the red jersey and did a good team time trial. We then gave the other riders some freedom. Brieuc took eighth place after a strong breakaway, and Thibaud fought to a fine sixth place in a bunch sprint, which isn’t his specialty. This first week is positive.” After the rest day scheduled on Monday, the riders will return to action with another summit finish, in a week that will also include the Angliru and La Farrapona stages. “We’ll have to choose our stages carefully,” Frédéric concluded.
