Still in contention for a place in the top ten of the Vuelta a Burgos on Saturday morning, Clément Berthet unfortunately failed to achieve that symbolic goal. On the final climb to the Lagunas de Neila, the French climber had to cope with mixed sensations. He fought hard to finish 18th on the stage and slipped back to 12th overall. A touch of disappointment at the end of what was still an encouraging week for the Groupama-FDJ United Cycling Team.
The Vuelta a Burgos had saved the “best” for last. For the fifth and final stage, the peloton tackled the race’s most iconic climb on Saturday: the ascent to the Lagunas de Neila, featuring more than six kilometres of climbing at an average gradient of 9%. It was preceded by the Alto de Rozavientos (3.3 km at 10%), which was expected to create an initial selection. However, even before this gruelling final, the race already proved highly animated. “It was a tough stage today. There was a real battle from the start, and it took a while for the breakaway to get clear,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Eventually, a group of fifteen riders got away, with Rémy among them, but they never really gained much of an advantage. Lidl-Trek and Netcompany Ineos rode behind to fight for the stage win. The gap therefore went up to around 1’15”, but not much more.” With 40 kilometres to go, the breakaway began to fall apart and the peloton caught most of the escapees, including Rémy Rochas. “Then we went back to a fairly classic race scenario,” added Benoît. On the penultimate climb, a few accelerations came from within the peloton, which was reduced in size but remained under control. Clément Berthet made it through this first “cut” and, after the descent, was joined in the peloton by Rémi Daumas and Bastien Tronchon, as three riders were still up the road.
“Clément fought with what he had today” – Benoît Vaugrenard
After a long false flat, the final climb began, and Clément Berthet managed to stay with the peloton for three kilometres before losing ground. “He wasn’t having a good day, and he paid for it a little,” Benoît explained. “He could feel it from the start. During the race, he had to change bikes after a puncture, and we could already see that he wasn’t feeling his best. On such a difficult climb, that makes a difference.” Dropped while over twenty riders still made up the peloton, the Frenchman nevertheless didn’t give up and eventually reached the summit in 18th place, 1’17” behind stage winner Giulio Pellizzari. “He hung on well and fought all the way to the finish with what he had today, and that’s what we should remember,” Benoît said. “It’s just a shame to go from ninth place overall provisionally to 12th in the final standings. A top ten would have been a great result, so there is a little disappointment, but what he showed this week is still very encouraging for what’s ahead, particularly the Vuelta.” Although the race did not come to an end in the best possible way, Groupama-FDJ United still left Burgos with several positive results. “It wasn’t a WorldTour race, but the field certainly looked like one,” Benoît concluded. “We were where we needed to be, with three top-ten finishes on the stages and Clément delivering on two mountain stages. The icing on the cake would have been a top-ten finish overall, but what I’ll remember is the riders’ mindset. For some of them, it was also good preparation for the Vuelta, and they were able to build up some valuable racing habits together.”
