This was clearly not the Tour de Pologne that the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team had hoped for. After a week of racing without any significant results, the French squad was hoping to turn things around with Rémi Cavagna in Sunday’s closing time trial. However, the French national time trial champion did not have the legs to challenge for more than a top-15 finish.
After six stages in which it had been unable to really get involved in the battle at the front, Groupama-FDJ United had high hopes for the final day of the Tour de Pologne on Sunday. The 12.5-kilometre time trial in Wieliczka was indeed a major objective for French time trial champion Rémi Cavagna, who had also finished third in the time trials at the UAE Tour and Giro d’Italia this season. “There was a three-kilometre climb right from the start, then a flat section at the top, a long descent, followed by another flat section towards the finish,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “It was still a very fast time trial, and we expected the biggest gaps to be made in the first part.” Rémi Cavagna took to the start ramp shortly before 3 p.m. Unfortunately, the French rouleur struggled precisely on that opening section of the course. “He felt that his legs were heavy at the start, and getting into the rhythm was difficult,” Frédéric explained. “At this level, you simply cannot afford that. Over twelve kilometres, you have to be on it from the very beginning, especially with the opening climb. It took him some time to get going, and unfortunately that was reflected in the result.” At his arrival, Rémi Cavagna was 6th, ten seconds behind the provisional leader. At the end of the day, he slipped to 15th place, 17 seconds behind stage winner Stefan Küng. “It is obviously disappointing because we had high hopes for the time trial,” admitted Frédéric.
“We must not give up” – Frédéric Guesdon
More generally, Groupama-FDJ United leaves Poland with a very small results tally. “It was certainly a comeback race for the whole group, but that was also the case for a large part of the peloton,” continued the team’s sports director. “We were hoping to be a little more present in this race, especially in terms of results. We were certainly active, with Enzo, Valentin and Rémi all getting into breakaways, but we never really had an impact in the finals and we are a long way from the top 10s we could have hoped for. In the sprint stages, the guys worked pretty well together, but there was no result to show for it. So we can say that those stages were missed opportunities. Then Rudy’s withdrawal following the massive crash deprived us of a key rider for the overall classification and the hilly stages. Valentin was not at 100% either, so it became difficult to fight at the front. At this level, it is difficult to make an impact when even the slightest setback gets thrown into the works. We certainly expected better results, but we must not give up. Some riders will now head towards the Vuelta, while others will go to Hamburg. We are turning the page on this race, hoping that it will still prove useful for what lies ahead. If we were unable to perform, then at the very least, this race needs to serve us for the future.”
