In fine form since the start of the season, Victor Loulergue once again made his mark this Sunday in the final stage of the Tour de la Provence. Heading towards Arles, the day’s breakaway got the better of the peloton, and the 21-year-old was part of it. Although he was unable to match Axel Laurance in the closing moments, the rider from “La Conti” still secured an excellent fourth place at the finish. Rémi Daumas finished sixth overall and best young rider, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet placed thirteenth.
Just over 200 kilometres made up Sunday’s third and final stage in Provence, but from the start in Rognac, it was above all a demanding first hour that awaited the riders before heading towards Arles. “We had decided to stay alert from the start and we were right to do so,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “Victor felt the most capable and motivated to go in the break, and he didn’t miss a single move at the start! There was an initial move of around fifteen riders at the top of the first small climb with all the favourites, and he was already there. It came back together, then a group of ten went clear — he was still there — but in the end it was the third move that stuck. They first went clear as a group of eight and he bridged across on his own, just in time! He really earned his place at the front.” After around thirty kilometres, a nine-man breakaway managed to open up a gap, although the peloton kept it at around three minutes. “It was a hard start, and then it was full gas pretty much all day,” Victor said.
“I want more” – Victor Loulergue
“We knew everything could be decided in the last fifty kilometres, so we stayed calm, even though there weren’t many sprinters’ teams left to chase,” Frédéric explained. “The wind was going to make the difference. If it had been crosswinds, it would have split the bunch and opened up a second race. But it was a tailwind, which ultimately favoured the break. Ineos had a rider up the road, so they had no interest in bringing it back, and we started to realise the break had a real chance of making it.” With forty kilometres to go, the gap was down to just one minute, and it then stabilised all the way into the final. With fifteen kilometres remaining, the time difference was still unchanged as the first attacks were launched within the breakaway group. Victor Loulergue managed to respond once, then again to another acceleration eight kilometres from the finish, but he was unable to follow Axel Laurance’s decisive move inside the final five kilometres. “He was starting to struggle,” Frédéric admitted. “He was a small step behind each time. You could sense some fatigue and that he was relying a bit on the others. He didn’t manage to follow the right move, but the strongest riders were up the road.”In the end, only Laurance reached the finish alone, while Victor Loulergue emptied the tank in the sprint a handful of seconds later to secure fourth place. “It’s frustrating to come so close to victory again,” the young rider commented at the finish. “It’s the second time this year I’ve finished fourth. That said, after such a strong day out front, I was a bit drained in the final. I’m still happy because I’m in the mix, but I want more and I’m here to try to win races. Hopefully it will come soon.”“We were quite active this weekend, especially with such a young team,” Frédéric added. “On top of Victor’s result today, Rémi finished sixth overall and best young rider, and Guillaume was just outside the top ten. We were present in the breakaways and the young riders learned how to race as a team around a leader. There are plenty of positives. Only the crashes of Blake and Lorenzo in the final kilometre today slightly dampened the weekend”.
