Pure, unadorned happiness. Hungry and eager to bounce back after a first half of the season marred by physical setbacks, Bastien Tronchon had dreamed of making his mark on the Vuelta. He could hardly have imagined just how he would do so on Tuesday, in the tenth stage. The day after the race’s first rest day, the 24-year-old from Savoie stunned everyone, himself included, by winning the bunch sprint in Elche de la Sierra. Beating some of the best puncheurs and sprinters in the field, he claimed the biggest victory of his career, and his first in a Grand Tour. An unexpected win, which also means that Groupama-FDJ United have now secured a stage victory in three consecutive editions of the Vuelta.
At the start in Alcaraz on Tuesday, unlike on many other days at the Vuelta, there were plenty of riders who could envisage, or even dream of winning the stage. The course was indeed quite open as the second week’s fight was about to get underway. The 185 kilometres to Elche de la Sierra featured 3,000 metres of climbing, but with no major difficulty on the menu, the list of potential winners was a particularly broad one. Groupama-FDJ United themselves had several options for the day. “We didn’t know whether it was going to be a breakaway or a bunch finish, but we knew Visma-Lease a Bike would mainly decide the race,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “At the start, the main thing was to watch what Van Aert was doing. If he went up the road, Bastien was told not to hesitate and go with him. If Van Aert and his team didn’t move, Bastien had to wait for the sprint.” The Dutch team ultimately opted for the second strategy, although that did not prevent Enzo Paleni from joining a seven-man breakaway. “It was perfect, we just had to let the others chase,” Benoît added. Enzo Paleni, for his part, made a strong effort at the front, first to build a decent advantage during the opening 50 kilometres, and then to sustain in a prolonged battle with the peloton during the second half of the race.
“I didn’t believe it” – Bastien Tronchon
Cautious, the sprinters’ teams tried to keep the escapees within striking distance, but four of them, including the young Groupama-FDJ United rider, managed to come over the final classified climb at the front as countless attacks and counter-attacks unfolded in the bunch. “We stayed very calm and made sure Bastien had to do as little as possible on the final climbs,” Valentin explained. “We’d said in the briefing that we weren’t supposed to move before the sprint, and that’s what we did.” After a superb battle, Enzo Paleni was caught with seven kilometres to go, just before the false flat rising towards the finish. The increasingly reduced peloton somehow managed to contain the attacks, which nevertheless continued to fly until the final kilometre. “The roads were wide, but it was very demanding, and we knew it was going to be a very tough sprint,” Benoît described. “The final tired out the lead-out trains, which played into our hands because the speed was slightly lower, but the aim was to wait until the very last moment. On roads this wide, you can be tempted to move up early, but we had to wait until the final kilometre. We were worried for a moment because we couldn’t see them, and then suddenly we saw Guillaume come flying through.”
With 500 metres to go, and with two riders still up the road, it was indeed the Frenchman who took control of the peloton himself. “I saw Guillaume. I didn’t even know how far we were from the finish, but I couldn’t feel my legs, so I told him: ‘Go full gas, give it everything you’ve got,’” Bastien recalled. The climber transformed himself into an improvised lead-out man. “I had an opening to launch him in the final kilometre,” Guillaume explained. “It’s not a role I’m used to having, but I’m pretty proud to have added another string to my bow.” Coming out of the final corner, around 300 metres from the finish, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet finally launched Bastien Tronchon and the latter didn’t hesitate. “When he pulled off, I thought: ‘It’s a bit far out, but never mind, let’s go for it,’” the Frenchman recounted. “I was able to benefit a little from the slipstream of the two riders ahead. The timing was perfect.” From that moment on, he opened up an advantage that even he was surprised to see hold : “I sprinted all the way to the line, but I didn’t believe it. During the sprint, I thought there were guys ahead of me or that some of them were going to come around me, but I couldn’t see anyone…”
“This victory means so much to me” – Bastien Tronchon
And for good reason. As he went around the final attacker just 25 metres from the line, he managed to hold off the charging pack that had been following him for almost twenty seconds, crossing the finish line as an amazed winner. Hand on his helmet, a look of utter disbelief on his face, before the clenched fist of realization, the hot tears of relief and the warm hugs of his teammates. “It’s crazy. It’s an incredible day,” he said in his very first interview. “This victory means so much to me. You can’t imagine. It’s been a complicated year, and maybe that’s why, even in the sprint, I didn’t believe it.” Caught between the delay of the television broadcast and the reality unfolding on the road, his sports directors were just as completely taken by surprise. “We saw Guillaume come flying through, and two seconds later RadioTour announced ‘Bastien Tronchon wins’,” Benoît recalled. “We looked at each other in the car and thought that it couldn’t be possible. We still waited to see the video, and then we really exploded. It was an emotional rollercoaster. We couldn’t see them, we thought it was going to be difficult even to fight for a top 10, and then everything changed for us in four seconds. It’s extraordinary. We were just happy.”
Happy also for a young man who had not always had the opportunity to show his full potential in 2026, his first season with the team. “I told myself that I had to trust the process and see what came of it,” he said. “At the start in Monaco, I simply told myself: ‘The work has been done, now I just have to race the way I like to race.’ Today, I was having a really good day, and it had been a very long time since I’d had sensations like these. I told the guys several times that I was really enjoying myself today, despite the fact that the race was pretty hard. I’ve always been aware of what I’m capable of, but I also regularly have setbacks. I had some again this year, but when I’m feeling really good and I tell the guys, they put their full trust in me. It’s just incredible that it came together like this.” “We know he’s a rider with a lot of qualities,” Benoît said. “He was injured a lot at the beginning of the year, but as this Vuelta has gone on, we’ve seen him gradually coming back and regaining confidence. We weren’t expecting him to win a semi-mass sprint, but everything came together today. He’s not a pure sprinter, but after 3,000 metres of climbing, he can be very strong in this kind of finish, especially when he has good legs. He knew how to make the most of it.”
“From now on, it’s all a bonus” – Valentin Madouas
Now a Grand Tour stage winner, Bastien Tronchon has also delivered a much-anticipated victory for Groupama-FDJ United, and in doing so, lifted a weight off the shoulders of the entire team. “It’s a victory that feels good and makes everyone happy,” Benoît said. “We know how difficult it is to win stages in Grand Tours these days. We certainly had the general classification as an objective with Clément, but a stage win has always had a very special meaning. Now we’ve got it. The Vuelta is a success, it’s going to free everyone up, and there are still some great things to achieve.” “It’s honestly fantastic,” Valentin said. “From now on, it’s all a bonus. There are some great things to go for, whether that’s with Clément and Guillaume in the general classification, or with the rest of us in the breakaways.” The climber from Normandy actually brought this extraordinary day to a close with a few simple words: “There have been highs and lows this season, so we’re going to enjoy this moment.”
