The first week of the Vuelta a España has come to an end. On a wide variety of parcours, the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team made every effort to make its mark over the past few days. Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (14th) and Rudy Molard first joined a successful breakaway on Friday, before Bastien Tronchon secured a solid seventh place on Saturday in a mass sprint. Clément Berthet, meanwhile, continues to prove his reliability in the mountains and sits 11th overall heading into the first rest day.
After the sixth stage of the Vuelta, during which Tadej Pogacar had already claimed his third victory, an opportunity seemed to be opening up on Friday towards Aramón Valdelinares. On a day featuring 3,500 metres of elevation and finishing at almost 2,000 metres above sea level, the breakaway finally had a chance to make it to the end. “We suspected it could go all the way, and there was actually a lot of fighting right from the start,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was absolutely essential to have someone in there, and above all, one of our climbers.” After around thirty kilometres of attacking, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet managed to make his way into a chasing group of around twenty riders, alongside his teammate Rudy Molard. “It was a good situation for us, but there were five strong riders up front, including Van Aert, Leknessund and Johannessen,” Benoît continued. “They put in an impressive ride.” So much so that the chasing group was never able to close the 1’30” gap separating them from the leading quintet. On the steady final climb (10 km at 6%), none of the chasers was able to challenge them for the win, which ultimately went to Andreas Leknessund.
“The top 10 did Bastien a lot of good mentally” – Benoît Vaugrenard
Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet ultimately finished 14th on the day. “Guillaume and Rudy fought hard, and there are no regrets,” Benoît assured. “Guillaume was just missing a little bit towards the end, but he was up there, and that is always good for his confidence. He also moved up to 13th overall, just behind Clément, who did a good job of limiting his losses.” Before one final showdown expected on Sunday, the climbers were supposed to get a bit of a respite on Saturday in a stage suited to the sprinters. There was just one climb on the day’s route, and only one rider actually went clear at the start. Nevertheless, the mass sprint was preceded by plenty of incidents, including the withdrawal of red-jersey wearer Tadej Pogacar. “We thought it would be a quiet day, but since not much happened during the stage, there was a lot of nervousness towards the end,” Benoît explained. “The riders entered the final 20 kilometres being very fresh, which made for a very fast and very dangerous race, with a lot of tension. Pogacar crashed, and there were other crashes afterwards. We had to stay alert and avoid getting caught up in them, and things went well for us. Then we had the goal of doing a nice sprint with Bastien.”
Having been left frustrated in the first two sprints, the 24-year-old from Chambéry was this time able to execute an almost perfect race. “His teammates put him in a good position, and then he managed to stay near the front over the final three kilometres,” Benoît added. “He was still well positioned going into the final corner. A slight touch on the brakes may have cost him one or two places, but there are no real regrets.” Very much in the mix with the big sprinters over the final 200 metres, Bastien Tronchon secured a fine seventh place. “He had the confidence that he had been missing a little beforehand,” Benoît added. “This top-10 finish did him a lot of good mentally.” As a result of the red jersey’s abandonment, Clément Berthet (11th) and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (12th) logically moved up one place in the overall standings. However, their positions were far from secure heading into the final stage of the week. Almost 5,000 metres of elevation gain awaited the riders on Sunday en route to Alto de Aitana (22 km at 6%), with a succession of climbs along the way. “Despite Pogacar’s absence, we weren’t certain that the breakaway would make it to the finish,” Benoît said. “We had decided not to try too hard today unless a very large group got away, because the stage was extremely difficult. We chose to stay in the peloton, and ultimately that was probably the right decision.”
“It is encouraging for what lies ahead” – Benoît Vaugrenard
Around twenty riders did indeed spend a long time up the road with a four-minute lead, but the relentless pace on the final climb doomed the last fugitive nearly five kilometres from the finish, paving the way for a battle between the favourites for the stage win. Clément Berthet managed to hold the pace of the red-jersey group for two-thirds of the climb before finishing at his own rhythm. “He had a slight dip when the pace accelerated. We were a little worried when he was dropped eight kilometres from the summit, but he recovered well,” Benoît admitted. “He almost caught the Kuss group fighting for tenth place.” At the summit, the Frenchman crossed the line in 14th place, 1’41” behind red-jersey wearer Enric Mas. “He really put in a strong climb, and that is encouraging for what lies ahead,” Benoît insisted. “We are very satisfied. He is 11th overall, which is very good. We know that a Grand Tour is a war of attrition. A lot can still happen over the next two weeks, and we hope that his freshness will work in his favour.” On Monday, the riders will have the opportunity to recharge their batteries after nine intense days of racing, before the race gets back into full swing. “A breakaway is likely to make it all the way on Tuesday, and we’ll be getting involved in the fight,” Benoît concluded. “We had this stage marked on our calendar, we have several riders who can perform well on it, and we mustn’t miss the opportunity.”
