The end of Vuelta is drawing near, but before two final mountain showdowns and one last battle through the streets of Granada, the start of the third week featured breakaways, bunch sprints and a crucial time trial. Valentin Madouas and Enzo Paleni went on the attack on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the latter even remaining out front until just three kilometres from Seville. Clément Berthet, meanwhile, produced an excellent time trial on Thursday to move up to seventh place overall.
Having been somewhat battered since the start in Monaco, the sprinters still present in the Vuelta saw the beginning of the third week as a real opportunity. Coming out of the second rest day, a fairly favourable route awaited them for stage 16 towards La Rábida. Groupama-FDJ United, however, was determined to race aggressively. “We know that in the third week, the sprinter teams can be tired, that some teams who haven’t won anything can try to make things happen, and Valentin was motivated to try the breakaway, especially since the start was not easy,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “He found himself in a group of five good riders, but perhaps they were too good, because the peloton didn’t give them much of a gap and Visma-Lease a Bike received support from other teams. So the task was complicated, especially as there were only big roads in the final. We did have Bastien for the sprint, but we wanted to keep the door open for the breakaway, and we still had to give it a try.” At the front of the race, the former French champion enjoyed a maximum advantage of 2:30 before everything came back together with 20 kilometres to go. A mass sprint was therefore on the cards, and this time almost the entire peloton was still together.
“I’m certain it will work one day” – Enzo Paleni
“We know these sprints are a little more difficult for Bastien, who prefers there to be some fatigue rather than freshness,” Benoît admitted. “We had a timing issue and he got boxed in at the final roundabout, where we knew we had to be well positioned.” The French rider therefore had no chance to show his speed on Tuesday, but another opportunity came the following day on the way to Seville, even though the course was less demanding than the day before. One rider nevertheless took it upon himself to make the race harder by attacking from kilometre zero: Enzo Paleni. “For a rider like him, it’s not easy to have the opportunity to express himself in a Grand Tour,” Benoît explained. “He had an opportunity and he took it. They got away with Fredrik Dversnes and Sinuhe Fernandez, but unfortunately Dversnes sat up quite quickly.” “We had to manage it well,” Enzo explained. “The two of us rode together almost as if we were training, taking it easy until the final hour. Then the idea was to put everything into the finish and try to play our hand against the peloton. I think they stopped riding a little in the middle of the race. That allowed us to gain two minutes for free, and that was really something that worked in our favour.”
With 100 kilometres to go, the duo’s advantage had indeed increased to five minutes, and it still stood at two minutes with 30 kilometres remaining. “The Burgos rider was tired quite a long way from the finish, which made things more difficult, but Enzo put in a great little performance and they really had to work hard behind to catch him,” Benoît said. With 15 kilometres to go, the Groupama-FDJ United rider dropped his breakaway companion and then gave everything he had to stay clear of the bunch. Unfortunately, despite an admirable effort, his adventure came to an end just three kilometres from the finish in Seville. “I enjoyed it,” he said. “The last 15 kilometres on my own felt a little long, but you have to fight all the way to the end, because if you want to win a Grand Tour stage, you have to go and get it. I’m certain it will work one day. I believe in it every time, and I try to find the right strategy to maximise my chances.” Bastien Tronchon (18th), meanwhile, was once again unable to really show his speed because of a lack of positioning. “We had to give it a try, but we know that these very fast sprints are more difficult for him,” Benoît said.
“It’s the confidence boost I needed” – Clément Berthet
After these two sprint-focused stages, Clément Berthet and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet remained ninth and 13th overall respectively, but some changes were expected on Thursday’s 32-kilometre time trial to Jerez de la Frontera. “There was a favourable wind and it was a time trial for specialists, but it was also very urban,” Benoît explained. “You had to stay alert and avoid making a mistake. Beyond that, there was a real opportunity in terms of the general classification because we know Clément is good at this discipline and he had the chance to gain time on his direct rivals.” Despite the very fast course, the Jura-born climber did not prove his sporting director wrong. At the finish, he recorded the 20th-fastest time of the day, 1:19 behind winner Stefan Küng, and, more importantly, the fifth-fastest time among the riders competing for the general classification. “It’s a very good day for us,” Benoît said with a smile. “Clément produced a very good time trial when you look at the standings and his position among the leaders.” “I managed to follow the planned pacing pretty well,” the rider said happily. “I’m not a specialist, but I’m very pleased to produce a performance like this in the third week. Above all, having legs like these before the next two stages is a very good sign. It’s the confidence boost I needed.”
Thanks to his performance, Clément Berthet did not just gain confidence. He also moved up two places in the overall standings to sit seventh in the Vuelta on Thursday evening, 7:47 behind the red jersey, but with more than two minutes in hand over tenth place. “You can’t hide on a time trial, and that means the legs are responding,” Benoît added. “But the gaps are very tight and there are two big days still to come. We should now have two more conventional stages, where it will be harder to get into a breakaway. We could see a ‘simple’ summit finish tomorrow, and then Saturday’s queen stage will be extremely difficult. The whole team is in good shape, we’re seventh overall, and morale is excellent heading into this final stretch”.
