Having arrived in Italy for a few races he hoped would prove fruitful, Romain Grégoire unfortunately had little luck when racing got underway this Sunday at the GP Industria & Artigianato in Larciano. Crashing around thirty kilometres from the finish, the French champion was forced to put in a sustained effort to get back into contention, but was subsequently unable to join the battle for victory. Tenth across the line, the Frenchman will look to bounce back on Thursday at the Coppa Sabatini.
It was in Tuscany, in the province of Pistoia, that the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team began its Italian campaign this Sunday at the GP Industria & Artigianato. This « opener »was nevertheless a tough one, with five climbs featuring in the second half of the race, including the Mungherino climb (6 km at 6%), which was set to be the decisive point just nine kilometres from the finish. The opening part of the race was marked by a nine-man breakaway, which the peloton controlled at around five minutes, before the various laps of the finishing circuit blew the leading group apart and drastically reduced their advantage. “As far as we were concerned, we had decided to race for Romain and protect him until the final two climbs,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “We knew that the race was going to kick off at that point, and that’s when our race would begin. Unfortunately, that’s also almost where it ended.” Perfectly brought up by his teammates at the start of the penultimate climb of the course, the French champion was therefore in an excellent position around thirty kilometres from the finish when a pothole in the road caused him to lose control of his bike. As a direct consequence, the rider from Besançon collided with another competitor and ended up on the ground, suffering a number of scrapes.
“It’s really disappointing” – Frédéric Guesdon
“He had to change bikes,” Frédéric recalled, having been in the front row for the incident. “He first rejoined Maxime, who wasn’t feeling well today and had ridden a little beforehand. He gave Romain a strong turn, then Baptiste and Josh also did a great job helping him get back as quickly as possible. When he rejoined at the back of the peloton, Lorenzo and Kevin helped him also. We had simply kept Brieuc fresh in case we needed him. It took Romain almost the entire climb to get back on. He crashed at the bottom and got back just before the summit.” In the meantime, a strong group of attackers had broken away, and Groupama-FDJ United was then forced to take responsibility for the chase before the day’s final difficulty. The breakaway approached it with a thirty-second lead over the pursuing bunch. Romain Grégoire was once again excellently positioned by his teammates, but after responding to a first attack from Christian Scaroni, the young puncheur was logically unable to follow Tom Pidcock’s move. “Given the effort he had made beforehand, it’s logical that he would struggle to produce a second one so soon afterwards,” Frédéric explained. “Pidcock and the others hadn’t made any effort all day, whereas Romain had put in a big effort fifteen kilometres earlier. It’s a shame because I think he would have been there physically. In my opinion, he could have fought it out with Pidcock.”
The French champion was forced to drop back into a third group alongside Brieuc Rolland, despite coming over the final climb only a few seconds behind the main chasing group, which was battling for second place. “He could see them not far ahead at the top and hoped they might look at each other a little, but that wasn’t really the case, and he was with a handful of riders who had no interest in taking turns with him,” Frédéric added. On the descent and over the final two flat kilometres, Romain Grégoire was therefore unable to close the gap and had to settle for tenth place on the line after winning the sprint from his small group. “I think there was an opportunity to fight for the podium, or even the win,” Frédéric said. “Collectively, we delivered. We were always well positioned and had managed the entire first part of the race well. Unfortunately, the final didn’t go our way. It’s frustrating, especially considering the commitment of everyone, both the staff and the riders. It’s really disappointing not to get the result we deserved.” There is little doubt that Romain Grégoire himself will be highly motivated to bounce back at his next races. “Physically, he seems to be doing okay despite the crash. He isn’t complaining about anything,” Frédéric concluded. “He’ll race the Coppa Sabatini on Thursday, which gives him three days to recover.”
