Whether through breakaways or results, “La Conti” Groupama-FDJ has shown itself in recent days on the Tour of Slovakia. In three stages and as many sprints, the French team notably secured four top-10 finishes, including a podium finish this Friday thanks to Matt Walls. Another sprint and a summit finish will be on the agenda for the weekend.
It was in Bardejov, in northern Slovakia, that “La Conti” lined up for stage 1 of the national Tour on Wednesday. Two big laps were to be covered for a total distance of about 141 kilometres, with a final two-kilometre climb averaging 7% located 25 kilometres from the finish line. “Our goal was to have a rider in front, and Oscar fulfilled this mission well,” said Jérôme Gannat. “On the other hand, we thought the breakaway would be larger, that there would be more motivated riders, but there were only four of them. Then, Soudal-Quick Step controlled for the sprint and didn’t let more than two and a half minutes to the break”. Yet, the leading group still managed to hold on until the last climb, where Oscar Nilsson-Julien first went clear with just one of his breakaway companions, before dropping him. The young Frenchman was eventually caught fifteen kilometres from the finish by a peloton that was still quite large, and relatively nervous. “There was a lot of action in the final, but every time, we saw one of our riders following the attacks, especially Baptiste, Rémi, or Eliott,” said Jérôme. “It was a pleasant surprise.” However, the bunch sprint proved “inevitable,” and the favorite Paul Magnier claimed victory.
“We’re improving day by day,” Matt Walls
“It was quite a technical final, with a first corner at 600 metres, then a second at 300 metres before a slight, cobbled climb,” explained Jérôme. “Blake finished seventh, Matt eleventh, but there was definitely room to do a little better with a little more confidence.” On Thursday, 170 kilometres were on the menu for the peloton between Svidník and Košice, with a series of three climbs ending twenty-five kilometres from the finish line. “Soudal-Quick Step was in control again,” commented Jérôme. “The peloton split up a bit on the first climb, but it quickly bunched up. On the finishing circuit, I was again pleasantly surprised by the team’s performance. We were particularly present at the front, with Oscar leading at five kilometers. There was then a brief moment of confusion with one kilometre to go following a minor crash, which blocked Blake, who was leading Matt out. Despite everything, Matt took the last corner in sixth or seventh position and finished fourth”. Paul Magnier secured his second consecutive victory. “In a high-level sprint, where it was very stressful, the team was up there, and that’s a very positive point,” said Jérôme. On Friday, however, the terrain was getting tougher in Slovakia. Heading towards Banská Bystrica, over 191 kilometres, nearly 3,000 metres of elevation gain were recorded, and “La Conti” tried to take advantage of this.
“Since the stage featured several difficulties, we thought Visma-Lease a Bike would make a move, which they tried to do with Gloag at the start,” explained Jérôme. “We broke away after with Rémi, but only three of them caught up with the leader, and the peloton immediately took control, and gave three minutes at best. Rémi took second place at the top of the main climb of the day, but the group was caught with forty-five kilometres to go. There was no point in pushing because Soudal-Quick Step was very organized. A little later, Oscar followed an attack, but they were only two up front and took fifty seconds. In a final like this, it was almost impossible to stay away from the peloton”. This is how a third consecutive sprint occurred in Slovakia. “The final’s roads were narrower than the other days, so it was more complicated to find each other, but Blake did a great job to position Matt with one kilometre to go,” added Jérôme. “It was really important because there was an almost complete peloton, and the sprint was a bit hectic.” After the work of his Australian lead-out man, Matt Walls was able to reach the podium this time, behind Paul Magnier and Lukas Kubis. “Oscar and Blake did a great job in a very chaotic final to put me into a good position coming into the final 500 metres,” confirmed the British rider. “We’re improving day by day and looking forward to tomorrow!”
Eliott Boulet also took sixth place on Friday, while the “flattest” stage of the week will take place tomorrow, before a summit finish (5.5 km at 6.5%) decides the final general classification on Sunday.
