In contention for a top-10 finish on the Tour de Romandie until Saturday, Clément Berthet ultimately couldn’t wrap up his Swiss week as he had hoped. Slightly off the pace during the decisive weekend, the French climber finished 25th overall. The Groupama–FDJ cycling team was nevertheless very active during the final three stages, making sure to be part of every breakaway, but unfortunately, the peloton gave the escapees no chance in this 79th edition.
After stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie on Thursday, everything was still to play for in the general classification. Sitting 11th, Clément Berthet was less than a minute behind the yellow jersey and about fifteen seconds off the top five. On Friday, the Col du Mollendruz (9 km at 6%) had the potential to create gaps, even though its summit was located about thirty kilometres from the finish. The breakaway reached the climb first, with no fewer than three riders from Groupama-FDJ United: Josh Kench, Lorenzo Germani, and Rémy Rochas. Having crashed earlier in the day without serious injury, the latter two sacrificed themselves for their New Zealand teammate, who pushed hard on the climb and was only caught by the peloton near the summit. “We said in the briefing that we needed to try to have numbers in the breakaway, as that was our chance to get a good result,” explained Thierry. “The guys did it very well, and it reflects the attitude they had all week. The intention was right, but UAE Team Emirates controlled it closely.” Once caught, Josh Kench descended toward the finish in a group of around thirty riders that also included Clément Berthet. At the line, Dorian Godon won the sprint, while the French climber finished ninth, moving up to tenth overall.
“The team commitment was definitely there” – Thierry Bricaud
On Saturday, it was Maxime Decomble’s turn to try his luck at the front after a strong battle early in the race. However, the peloton never gave much gap to the young Frenchman and his fellow escapees, and the Groupama-FDJ United rider was caught with forty kilometers to go. “It was a strong breakaway, with riders who have solid credentials,” Thierry emphasized. “It was a good effort from Maxime. He faded a bit at the end, but that’s all part of his development.” The rest of the team focused on positioning Clément Berthet at the foot of the final climb, the Jaunpass (8 km at 8%), whose summit came seventeen kilometres from the finish. However, the Frenchman couldn’t match the other favorites as he did on previous days. “At the start of the final climb, Clément didn’t have great legs, and that was confirmed on Sunday,” said Thierry. “He had a somewhat difficult final weekend, but that’s not surprising. The competition has been racing at a high level for three months, while he is just starting his season. At some point, the difference shows. Now he needs to recover well, and then he’ll be able to build form.” Seventeenth overall before the final stage, Clément Berthet was unable to defend his top-20 position on Sunday during the final climb to Leysin (14 km at 6%).
At the finish, it was Rémy Rochas, still in the peloton until five kilometres from the summit, who was the first Groupama-FDJ United rider to cross the line (21st), while Lorenzo Germani animated the race at the front all day. “Rémy finished this Tour de Romandie quite well,” Thierry added. “On Saturday, he waited for Clément to help defend a good overall position, and on Sunday he put in a solid climb to enjoy himself and regain confidence. Like Rémi and Josh, he’ll be at the Giro in five days. They’re heading there with a lot of motivation, and they know they’re ready. Overall, given how the race unfolded each day, there wasn’t much room unless you were really fighting for the general classification. Clément was competitive for four days before fading. I’ll remember the overall mindset. The team was motivated to achieve a result, but the race was simply locked down. The team commitment was clearly there, as it showed with all our breakaways, and that remains encouraging.”
