A sense of déjà vu. On the roads of the Tour of the Basque Country, the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team once again rode aggressively this Thursday, during a fourth stage that was again favourable to breakaways. This time, the French squad managed to place three riders up front: Quentin Pacher, Clément Braz Afonso, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet. After a selective final, it was the Norman climber who achieved the best result of the day, taking a promising fifth place.
Day after day, the race unfolds in similar fashion in the Basque Country. At least, the fourth stage, covering 167 kilometers around Galdakao, followed a scenario quite close to the previous day. With numerous riders eager to join the breakaway at the start, it took more than an hour and a half before a group finally managed to get away. “Since stage two, we’ve known there are good opportunities for stage wins,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “Today, it took seventy kilometers before the break went. It was a big fight and it never really settled down. Thirty-three riders went clear, including Guillaume, Quentin, and Clément. It was a good move for us.” Clément Braz Afonso was also the best-placed rider from the group on the general classification, just over four minutes behind race leader Paul Seixas. “Yesterday we already had two riders in the break,” added Guillaume. “Today it was great to have three. It gave us tactical options and allowed us to take advantage of our strong collective. Uno-X was also well represented, so we let them do some of the work at first.” The peloton allowed the group nearly three minutes of a gap, while Brandon McNulty was caught about 35 kilometres from the finish after being out front alone for a long time.
“Things are getting better” – Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet
Two climbs remained at that point, and as the riders began the first of them toward Elorritxueta (4 km at 7.5%), the gap to the peloton had dropped to just 1 minute 30 seconds. “Quentin made a strong effort on the penultimate climb,” Guillaume explained. “That helped split things up and hold off the peloton a bit longer.” The breakaway shattered under the pressure of the slope, leaving only around ten riders at the front by the summit. “At the top, we took stock and Clément told me he wasn’t feeling that great anymore,” Guillaume said. “So he put in some solid efforts on the flat to keep the gap.” It also helped prevent some rivals from getting away in the transition section before the final climb of the day. One rider began that last ascent alone with a 15-second lead, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet worked hard to follow the accelerations on the Legina climb (3.2 km at 8%). Always up there, the French rider only conceded a few seconds at the top to Tobias Halland Johannessen and Alex Aranburu. “He found himself in a group of four about fifteen seconds behind, and they almost made it back with one kilometre to go, so we really believed in it,” said Benoît Vaugrenard.
After five flat kilometres, a final uphill kilometre decided the stage, with the last 400 metres at nearly 8%. In the end, the Groupama-FDJ United rider lacked the final kick to bridge the gap to the leading duo. He nevertheless pushed hard to secure fifth place, finishing thirteen seconds behind the local stage winner. “He had already given a lot, and Aranburu was simply the strongest in that kind of finish,” Benoît said. “It’s still a very good fifth place.” “I did my best at the end,” Guillaume added. “I wasn’t far from the win, but I have no regrets. There were stronger riders than me today, but I’m happy things are moving in the right direction. I’m not at my best level yet, but I’m improving day by day. It feels good to see my legs coming back after long months of doubt and searching for confidence. I’d been feeling better in training for a while, but I needed to confirm it in racing.” With his second top-10 finish in two days, he has also climbed to 16th place overall. “He’s improving every day,” confirmed Benoît. “It’s good for his confidence. He’s finding his form again, and it’s great to see.” As for attacking again during tomorrow’s queen stage? “I think the breakaway has less chance of succeeding given how hard it will be,” Benoît concluded. “There may be more opportunities on Sunday.”
