Romain Grégoire’s run isn’t over! Still hungry despite his recent successes, the young Frenchman once again made his mark this Sunday, on the fifth and final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg. This time, he won after a twenty-kilometre breakaway with Ben Healy, whom he got rid of with one kilometre to go. Unstoppable, the 22-year-old puncher claimed his sixth victory of the season, his twelfth as a pro rider, while allowing the Groupama-FDJ cycling team to reach the fifteen-win mark in 2025.
Towards the city of Luxembourg, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was coming not only on familiar ground this Sunday, but also on conquered land, in the final stage of the national Tour. In the recent past, both Valentin Madouas and David Gaudu, twice, had already won on the finishing circuit through the streets of the Grand Duchy’s capital. This surely gave Romain Grégoire, who was out for revenge after losing the yellow jersey 48 hours earlier, some ideas. “I felt very bad, for myself and for the team, for missing out on Friday,” he said. “I wasn’t at my level, and I was keen to show today that I could do much better than that and win.” “We were expecting a big fight for the breakaway, and we were a bit scared of that given that there were a lot of riders far behind in the general classification,” Benoît Vaugrenard said. “So the goal was to put a guy in the breakaway, because you never know, and that’s what Enzo did very well.” With around ten other competitors, the French rider managed to join the leading group, but the peloton remained at a reasonable distance all day, in the pouring rain. Shortly before the finishing circuit, the Groupama-FDJ rider accelerated with Mats Wenzel in the lead, while the peloton was only forty seconds behind.
“It took boldness,” Benoît Vaugrenard
“We saw that UAE was taking it a bit easy because their goal was not to catch the breakaway, so it was time to get going,” Benoît added. “There was a nice descent that was ideal for doing so, we did it, and that brought other teams into the mix.” At the bottom of the first of three climbs of the Pabeierberg (800m at 9.2%), located about one kilometre from the finish line, things really got serious. Romain Grégoire was perfectly launched by Lorenzo Germani, who set a strong pace on the first few slopes, before following Ben Healy’s move. “It wasn’t really the plan to go from so far, but we know that things can unfold early on a circuit like this, especially in the rain, and that it’s very difficult for a peloton to organize itself,” explained Romain. “When I saw Ben Healy attack, I didn’t hesitate for a second. We know he’s a rider to follow when the race opens up, because he’s always going to ride, and ride hard.” “You needed to be able to keep up with him, and Romain was, then we quickly saw that things were slowing down a bit behind because Healy was quite far back in the general classification,” explained Benoît. “It was good for us.”
Across the finish line, two laps from the end, the Franco-Irish duo came back on Enzo Paleni’s group, then prevented Marc Hirschi from bridging across while catching the last fugitive, Wenzel, twenty kilometres from the finish. The cooperation between the two men proved extremely smooth, and the gap quickly increased to thirty seconds, and even to one minute after another time up the Pabeierberg. As the bell announced the final twelve-kilometre lap, Romain Grégoire and Ben Healy had more than a minute’s lead over the group of favorites. The last lap did not change the situation, and the duo came at the bottom of the final climb battling for the win. “It was clear that we each had our card to play,” said Romain. “His was to climb full gas from the bottom and mine was to wait for the final to play on my explosiveness. It wasn’t easy, but I held on until the top.” However, the French rider wasn’t satisfied with that. “With this technical final and these few corners, I decided to counterattack with a kilometre to go,” he smiled. “It took boldness to attack him at the top of the climb,” Benoît said. “He scared me a bit, because Healy isn’t the type to give up.” Although the Irishman didn’t give up, it proved insufficient to close the twenty metres separating him from the rider from Besançon.
“I’ve had a pretty crazy week,” Romain Grégoire
After a last effort in the final straight, Romain Grégoire was able to put his hands in the air before even crossing the finish line. “It was close, because he wasn’t far behind, but it was enough,” the young Frenchman enjoyed. “It’s pretty crazy to find myself here again five days after my first victory. I’ve had a pretty crazy week in Luxembourg and doing this last stage in the rain made things even more difficult. I’m just so happy to win.” Impressive and always in control, he thus brought the Groupama-FDJ cycling team its fourth victory in five years in this stage. He also won for the fourth time this September. “With two stage wins, the contract for the week has been more than fulfilled,” Benoît added. “I also want to highlight the team’s commitment. Eddy and everyone else rode a superb race, and we had a leader who was up to the task. It also gives him confidence after Friday’s stage. We can now say that it was for sure a bad day and that the legs are really there.” A very good omen for the next races.
