Despite three breakaways over the previous three stages and dreadful weather this Saturday, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet once again went on the attack in the final stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. The Norman climber got himself to the front of the race yet again on the road to Bergara, and after a grueling day, was rewarded with another stage top 10 (10th) and a nice rise in the overall standings (11th). A week defined by perseverance.
Just 135 kilometers remained this Saturday to wrap up a monstrous edition of the Tour of the Basque Country. However, there were still 3,000 metres of elevation gain to digest on this final day, all under relentless rain and significantly colder temperatures than in previous days. Everything pointed to a brutal stage, and that scenario was reinforced when a breakaway of around thirty riders went clear after twenty kilometres. True to himself, and apparently not tired of it after three consecutive breakaways, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet was once again part of the move. “We didn’t really believe in the break yesterday, as it was the hardest stage of the week, but we felt the break could go far today, and Guillaume was still motivated,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “On top of that, the stage took place in torrential rain, and Guillaume enjoys those kinds of conditions. We also knew we needed some guys to have teammates up front to make it to the finish, because on the final day, riders fight hard for a top 10 overall. Luckily, things worked out well since Uno-X had five riders and they rode flat out for Johannessen. For us, it was ideal. It was exactly the scenario we had imagined.”
“Guillaume was flawless” – Benoît Vaugrenard
Within this large breakaway, which also chased for a long time behind a group of five, then three riders, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet logically stayed discreet. “The idea was for him to hang on in that group as long as possible, and then let the legs do the talking in the final.” As the climbs and descents went by, the breakaway group thinned out throughout the afternoon. After the penultimate climb, the earlier attackers were caught, and only nineteen riders remained at the front, including the French climber. Behind them, the favorites, battling for nearly an hour, were more than two minutes back. With fifteen kilometres to go, the final climb of the week appeared, and on the steepest gradients, Andrew August broke away solo while everyone else was left to fend for themselves. “The final was tough for Guillaume, who suffered from the cold,” Benoît added. “We practically lost twenty degrees compared to yesterday! I saw he was really affected, but as usual he was extremely brave and flawless.” Fighting all the way to the line, the Groupama-FDJ United rider secured tenth place, 1’33 behind the winner and nearly three minutes ahead of the favorites. In the GC, this fourth consecutive breakaway also allowed him to climb six places to finish 11th overall.
“Guillaume was in the three breakaways that made it to the finish this week, and he achieved three top 10s,” Benoît recalled. “Strategically, we raced well. He also needed to regain confidence after a difficult Volta a Catalunya, and this Tour of the Basque Country really puts him back on track for what’s next. We know it’s hard nowadays to fight for the general classification if it comes down to legs only, so he raced aggressively, just as he likes to. He was just missing a little something for an even better result, but overall I’m happy with the week. We were present whenever we needed to be. We knew there would be opportunities after the second day, and we didn’t miss them. We’re still lacking a little something to go for the win, but at least we were active. We also weren’t spared from bad luck with crashes and illnesses, but I’m really very satisfied with the team.”
