The unknown Alto de Moncalvillo was set to do some damages on Wednesday in the Vuelta. Unfortunately for him and for the Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team, David Gaudu did not have the best legs today and was therefore unable to compete with the race’s big favourites in the final climb. The young climber still hung on to limit his losses, finishing the stage in 18th position. He also climbs up to fourteenth overall after this stage 8.
“I was not at my level”, David Gaudu
Twenty-four hours after a “full-gas” stage, the Vuelta’s bunch had a more usual day on Wednedsay. Although the breakaway made up of seven riders did not form prior the kilometre 20, the race still turned back to a classical scenario. The Ineos Team from leader’s Richard Carapaz took control throughout the first part of the race before the race kicked off for good after one hundred kilometers or so. “There was always a good pace but it really picked up on the first climb,” Franck Pineau said. “Movistar set a big pace, but they mostly accelerated in the climb so they could make do a fast descent afterwards. It was very technical and we expected some splits. At the end of the downhill, there was a first peloton of about sixty and we had Bruno and David in there. Movistar then continued to ride hard to come back to the morning breakaway.”
Benjamin Dyball (Team NTT) and Stan Dewulf (Lotto-Soudal), the last men standing from the break, still managed to hold on until the first real slopes of the final climb, the Alto de Moncalvillo (11.3 km at 7.6%). Subsequently, the pace set by Movistar and then by Jumbo-Visma and EF Pro Cycling took its toll on some riders. The red jersey group was down to around 15 riders halfway through the climb and David Gaudu was also forced to let the favourites go about four kilometers from the summit. The young Frenchman struggled in the back as Primoz Roglic took another victory. Eighteenth on the line, 2’30 behind the Slovenian winner, David Gaudu was of course a little disappointed. “It was a tough day,” he said. “I didn’t have great feelings today. It was tough and I wasn’t at my level so I cracked pretty early on the climb. I hope it will be better the next few days”.
“He fought well, and that’s what you need to remember”, Franck Pineau
“Neither Bruno nor David had great legs today,” added Franck Pineau. “It was a bad day for them, and they pretty much had pain in their legs the whole day. Still, David was able to hang on and did not lose 15 minutes. He fought well and that’s what you need to remember. For a young leader in this kind of race, it’s also good to go through this kind of episode. Some days, it doesn’t go that well. For him it was today, but the important thing is not to give up. He did not and it’s pretty good in that sense. He must also learn to manage this kind of days, when things do not go as we would like”. In the next two days, the stages won’t probably create gaps in the general classification. “However, these stages can always be tricky, especially with the wind,” concluded Franck. “We must always stay focused, even though we hope to be able to save some energy. It should be a rather quiet day tomorrow, but we will remain very careful because everything can happen”.
No comment