The Tour of the Basque Country offered an opportunity for breakaway riders around Basauri this Wednesday, and the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team tried to make the most of it. After a long battle at the start, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso managed to enter the leading group on this third stage. However, the French duo were caught out about thirty kilometers from the finish by two riders, and then fought for the remaining places on the finish line. The Norman climber claimed ninth place, while his teammate finished seventh.
The day after a very demanding stage toward Cuevas de Mendukilo, during which Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso battled around twentieth position, the riders faced the least elevation gain of the week this Wednesday. “Even before the start of the Tour of the Basque Country, we were targeting this stage,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was the least difficult of the week, but still tough with 2,800 metres of climbing. With the team we had, we wanted to animate the race. We also knew that the time gaps created yesterday could work in our favor and that the breakaway had a chance. However, we couldn’t miss the right move!” Many riders had the same idea in this third stage, and the fight lasted nearly an hour and a half. “There was a battle for almost 60 kilometres,” Benoît continued. “Maxime tried first, then Guillaume followed a strong group, but the decisive move only formed later with Guillaume and Clément. The breakaway never had a big advantage, but we knew it would be decided up front.” “It was a great move,” added Guillaume. “Only two teams had two riders, and we were one of them, with two strong cards to play.”
“We were in the mix” – Benoît Vaugrenard
Fifteen riders broke clear with just under 100 kilometres to go, came over the first categorized climb with nearly a two-minute lead, and then headed toward the Bikotx-Gane climb, whose final three kilometers averaged nearly 9%. The first attacks in the break came on this ascent, more than 30 kilometres from the finish, but eleven riders remained more or less together near the summit, including the Groupama-FDJ United duo. However, the decisive move came shortly afterward. “Laurance and Arrieta attacked on a descent where the pace was very high, and the guys told me they were already at their limit at that moment,” Benoît explained. “It’s a bit of a pity, but I think they were the two strongest out front. No real regrets.” “We were a bit caught out when these two went on the descent, but they were very strong as well,” confirmed Guillaume. The gap quickly grew to thirty seconds over a chasing group of nine riders and even exceeded a minute before the final hills.
“We had to hope they would start looking at each other, which they did a bit, but we came back a little too late,” Guillaume added. “In the final, Clément and I attacked one after the other, but after the start of the stage we had, I didn’t have much strength remaining, like everyone else. We just went with what we had left.” “The chase came back to within twenty seconds on the final uphill kilometre, but the leading duo controlled things and saved enough for the sprint,” Benoît added. In the end, Axel Laurance took the victory, while Clément Braz Afonso crossed the line 24 seconds later in 7th place, two positions ahead of his teammate. “Even if the result isn’t quite there yet, things are improving,” said Guillaume. “There are positives with this double top 10 in a WorldTour race,” added Benoît. “It’s important to be competitive on this kind of stage. We came up against stronger riders, but we were in the mix. Maybe Clément did a bit too much in the final, otherwise a top five was within reach. That said, he’s been very active since the start of the season. For Guillaume, who had been lacking confidence in recent weeks, it was good to get back on the attack. We know he enjoys that. Overall, it was a good day, and there could be more opportunities for breakaways this week.” The week will continue without Rémy Rochas, who was unfortunately forced to withdraw following his crash on Tuesday.
