This Sunday, the only thing that mattered was the tricolour jersey. Therefore, after a very lively 214 kilometres, covered at full speed, Romain Grégoire couldn’t be content with second place in the road race of the French Championships. Always present in the Groupama-FDJ’s good moves, first in a big breakaway in the first half of the race, then following a splendid push with 70 kilometres to go, the young man was able to count on the full support of his teammates. Unfortunately, the small-group sprint at the summit of Mont des Alouettes didn’t go his way, with Dorian Godon depriving him of the title he was so much hoping for.
A year after losing their title, Groupama- relaunched the hunt for the French champion’s jersey on Sunday. To successfully complete this mission, they had to master a bumpy 16.5-kilometres circuit, which had to be repeated thirteen times, and with the Mont des Alouettes (1.9 km at 4.7%) as the main difficulty. “The key was to be present from the start, to make sure we weren’t one step behind, and to have numbers in the various moves,” explained Yvon Caër. From this perspective, the French squad surely fulfilled its mission. After multiple attacks in the first two laps, a group of nearly forty riders went away during the third lap. Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas, and Quentin Pacher were among the eight Groupama-FDJ’s riders in front. “We had our best cards up front, it was to our advantage,” confirmed Yvon. “We also sacrificed Rémi [Cavagna] and Enzo [Paleni] to go as far as possible.” For nearly fifty kilometres, the gap stabilized at around one minute, but the second peloton was able to significantly close in entering the final hundred kilometres. “I think some teams made a mistake by not collaborating with us,” added Yvon. “It would have put our opponents even more in trouble. That’s the only regret, but we certainly started the race on the right foot!”
“We had to sacrifice some riders, and the balance of power evened out,” Yvon Caër
Shortly after the halfway mark, everything restarted from scratch with a reunited peloton behind a lone leader, Ewen Costiou. The latter was caught seventy-four kilometres from the finish, and right after, Groupama-FDJ set up a frantic push, which created chaos a few moments later. “This move was planned,” said Yvon. “We just delayed it by one lap. We wanted to accelerate in and after this winding descent. Some riders pulled just before, and we told them that it would be wise, once their work was done, to cause splits. That’s what happened. We found ourselves with extraordinary numbers in front, including a large part of our leaders, and that really kick-started the final.” Among the dozen riders who broke away at that moment, only one was not part of the team. Clément Davy, Tom Donnenwirth, Maxime Decomble, and a few others then gave their all to allow the group to go clear. “The course wasn’t that selective, though,” Romain added. “We certainly had numbers, but it was difficult to take advantage of it because there weren’t really any spots to make a difference. We had all the fast riders with us, so we did what we could.” “They also never gave up at the back, and some of our riders also had to sacrifice themselves,” Yvon confirmed.
With four laps to go, the climb of Mont des Alouettes caused a large selection, and only a handful of riders managed to bridge across to the first group led by Groupama-FDJ. After another lap of the circuit, the situation became clearer, and nineteen riders were leading the race, including nine protégés of Yvon Caër: Clément Russo, Paul Penhoët, Rudy Molard, Quentin Pacher, Romain Grégoire, Valentin Madouas, Brieuc Rolland, Clément Braz Afonso and Cyril Barthe. “We had to take responsibility, pull, and sacrifice some riders, and the balance of power therefore evened out,” explained Yvon. “That’s part of the game.” Romain Grégoire’s teammates worked hard to avoid the return of the “rest” of the peloton, which was just fifteen seconds behind with two laps to go. This comeback ultimately proved impossible as the attacks resumed at the front. Fully invested in this final fight, the Groupama-FDJ riders however let the reigning French champion, Paul Lapeira, slip away with twenty-two kilometres to go. “We made a mistake when Lapeira went away on the descent and no one followed him,” said Yvon. “That put us in trouble for the rest of the race. We had to work hard to bring him back and we sacrificed two good cards: Rudy and Paul.”
“I left myself no choice but to win,” Romain Grégoire
On the final lap, Romain Grégoire managed to follow Kevin Vauquelin’s attacks, but it was indeed the work of his teammates that allowed the chasing group to approach the final ascent of Mont des Alouettes just ten seconds behind Lapeira. Valentin Madouas then took the lead of the group, maintaining a solid pace while Louis Barré tried to anticipate the final sprint. Romain Grégoire went on the offensive shortly before the flamme rouge to catch the Intermarché-Wanty rider. “Valentin finished his pull, and I felt I had to go at that moment,” he said. “It’s always difficult to be clear-headed in the heat of the moment. It wasn’t maybe a good idea, but I thought it was better for me if it was a very fast climb from the bottom. By attacking in the steepest part, it hurt my legs, but it hurt the others too. That said, Decathlon-AG2R managed their effort because they still had riders around Godon. I certainly made a mistake.” “Romain probably wasn’t patient enough,” Yvon agreed. The 22-year-old from Besançon was then caught under the flamme rouge and slipped into the wheel of Dorian Godon, himself led by his teammates. A small, uphill sprint loomed, and Romain Grégoire was then ready to give his last shot.
“The last few meters were a matter of courage,” he emphasized. “I think everyone was dead because of the race and the heat. I believed in my chance, and after everything the team had done, I left myself no choice but to win. I think I did everything right in the last kilometre. I was in the right position; I launched my sprint at the right time… but it wasn’t enough.” The young man opened his sprint with 200 metres to go, was still on the same line as Dorian Godon a hundred meters from the finish, but he eventually lost a few metres in the final moments, crossing the line in a frustrating second place. “In a championship, only victory and the jersey count,” he said. “Today, we lost. I really wanted to win, for myself and for the team because it’s a race that means a lot to us. Today, the twenty-six guys at the start did a great race, they were 100% behind me. We took responsibility, we raced as we should, we took control of the race, and I didn’t manage to thank them, so I’m particularly disappointed for them. I think the tactics were good, the only thing missing was the conclusion.” “Romain is a winner, it’s normal that he’s disappointed, but some really great things were still achieved today,” concluded Yvon. “We showed determination and will. All the riders were involved, and all gave their all. This can be a good basis for the future from a “collective” and “sacrifice” point of view. It’s obviously contrasted by the final result, but we can’t forget what we showed as a team today.”
