As the Tour de France returned to French roads at the start of the week, the Groupama-FDJ United Cycling Team launched its first breakaway attempts. On Monday, Clément Braz Afonso was the first to go on the attack on the road to Les Angles, where the overall contenders ultimately battled it out for the stage victory. On Tuesday, Romain Grégoire and Ewen Costiou made it into a breakaway that was given the chance to fight for the win in Foix, but neither the French champion nor the Breton rider had the legs to stay in contention until the finish. Other opportunities will come.
After two promising opening days in Spain, with eighth place in the team time trial and seventh for Romain Grégoire atop Montjuïc on Sunday, the Groupama-FDJ United Cycling Team was eager to carry that momentum into Monday’s stage, which crossed from Spain into France. Covering nearly 200 kilometres from Granollers to Les Angles, the riders faced close to 4,000 metres of elevation gain, particularly over a demanding second half of the route. The opening phase of the race proved just as demanding, however, as it took 70 kilometres before the day’s breakaway finally formed. Clément Braz Afonso, highly active from the gun, secured his place at the front. “We knew our best opportunities on Monday and Tuesday were through the breakaways, and Clément took that chance first,” explained Yvon Caër. “He was doing really well. With eighteen riders up the road, it looked like the break would be allowed to go. We thought the peloton would let them, but UAE decided to race for the stage win. Once we reached the main climb, they really pushed hard and brought everything back together. Clément was having a strong day, but he couldn’t fight it out at the finish. That’s a pity.”
“It hurts mentally” – Romain Grégoire
The KOM winner from the last Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was caught with around 60 kilometres remaining, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet stayed with the favourites until the final climb to Les Angles (1.7 km at 6.7%), eventually finishing 28th, 1’06 behind Tadej Pogačar. Tuesday’s stage to Foix followed a similar blueprint, with 180 kilometres on the menu and a slightly less demanding profile (2,800 metres of climbing), although the Col de Montségur (7 km at 6%) awaited the riders 40 kilometres from the finish. “The plan was much the same, but this time UAE decided to let the break go,” said Yvon. “Among the thirty-four riders up the road, we had Ewen and Romain, who were our two main cards to play.” The large breakaway was established after around 30 minutes of racing and steadily extended its advantage throughout the day. As a result, both the stage victory and the yellow jersey were set to be decided from the front group. Shortly after halfway, the first attacks began, but the group came back together before the decisive ascent of the Col de Montségur. The pace then increased dramatically, with around ten riders going clear, but neither the French champion nor his Breton teammate could follow.
“It wasn’t too hard throughout the day in the break, but as soon as the pace went up on the climb, neither Ewen nor I had the legs to stay with them,” admitted Romain. The punchy rider from Franche-Comté kept on fighting, managed to join the chasing group contesting 11th place just before the finish, but could only take 22nd after his earlier efforts. “It’s a shame because there really was something to play for,” continued Yvon. “Even though Lidl-Trek was incredibly strong, under normal circumstances we could definitely have been fighting for a podium place. The fatigue from the heat and the extremely high pace of the opening stages caught up with us. On top of that, Romain fought hard all day over these first four days.” “We just didn’t have great legs today, and that’s frustrating,” added Romain. “On a good day, there was every chance of being up there. That said, I gave absolutely everything, so I have no regrets. The level was simply above what we were capable of today. The heat definitely plays a part, especially when it comes to recovery. Today, in particular, it felt like an oven. We’re doing everything we can, and the team is doing everything right, but some riders cope with those conditions better than others, and I think it really hit us hard today. We’ll go on the attack again, but tonight it hurts mentally to be so far below the level we were hoping for.”
While Mads Pedersen claimed victory and Torstein Træen pulled on the yellow jersey on Tuesday, the Tour is expected to offer the sprinters their first opportunity on Wednesday, before Thursday’s passage over the Tourmalet towards Gavarnie-Gèdre, followed by two further stages that could again end in bunch sprints. “Some of the riders will focus on recovering as well as possible, and we’ll try to put Clément Russo in the best position to enjoy his chances,” said Yvon. “He’s not one of the very top sprinters, but he’s already shown that a top-ten finish is within reach. We’ll look to back him over those three stages. As for Romain, we’re already looking ahead to Sunday.”
