Clément Braz Afonso entered a whole new world last winter: the WorldTour. By joining the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, the 25-year-old puncher reached the elite of cycling and has been enjoying it for several months now. He agreed to tell us about his experience throughout the year through a Road Diary. This is the second episode.
More than two months have passed since my first post. It ended with a review of the Tour of Oman as I was about to head to Spain for O Gran Camiño. We went over there without a big leader, and I was a little apprehensive about this dynamic as I had spent the entire beginning of the season as a domestique. I knew I’d get my chance, but I didn’t really manage to find my place and seize the opportunities. I also think I didn’t quite have the legs. In Oman, the race was very smooth before reaching the final, whereas in O Gran Camiño, it was a more “complete” race. Maybe I wasn’t ready for that yet. I wasn’t very satisfied on a personal level after this race, but fortunately, Maxime [Decomble] really put on a nice show! Third in the time trial, top 15 overall, that’s huge for a “Conti” rider. After O Gran Camiño, I spent three weeks at home. The first one was pretty easy, but I worked really hard during the next two. I even did a week with almost 30 hours of saddle, including a lot of exercises, then I had to recover before heading to the Volta a Catalunya, my first WorldTour experience.
“I wasn’t going to attack Geraint to finish 29th”
There was both fear and excitement, but right from the first day, I realized how fast it was. With the rain, the tricky final on the coast, and some big pushes, I lost a bit of time, and the team also focused on breakaways for the rest of the week. I was particularly worried about the third stage: 220 kilometres and more than 4,500 metres of climbing! I managed to stay in the main peloton at the top of the day’s longest climb… but there were still more than sixty of us! That’s what’s really impressive in the WorldTour. I consider myself a puncher/climber, I sometimes feel like I’m struggling in the climbs, and yet some heavy guys are still there! A rider like Kaden Groves was comfortably in the top positions, while I was in a kind of a pain. People need to realize that… The pace hurts so much, you expect a big selection, but the level is so high that there are still eighty of us left. For the record, at the top of this climb, I took a jacket, which I wanted to put on quickly, but there was a big push at the front, and I didn’t manage to keep the wheels.
For the record, at the top of this climb, I took a jacket, which I wanted to put on quickly, but there was a big push at the front, and I didn’t manage to keep the wheels. I had to make a hell of a chase for five kilometers to get back while the other guys put on their jackets on the following false-flat… It was stupid to lose energy like that. At the bottom of the final climb of La Molina, I didn’t push hard enough to position myself, while that’s usually my strength. I was immediately caught behind a split and I thought that was enough for the day. It was a real slog, and probably the first time I covered so much climbing in a race.
The next day, it was again very fast. In the WorldTour, the basic pace set by the leading teams isn’t extremely hard physically speaking, but it is incredibly tiring. You start thinking: “They’re crushing me while I’m in the wheels, how can I be in the final?” You have to be strong mentally. In the bunch, we say that teams don’t ride for free. It means that when they ride, they also try to make it hard for riders behind. When you’re at the back of the peloton after a hairpin, you need to accelerate for one or two minutes to catch up. On this fourth day of racing, I wanted to make up for the previous day and do my best in the final climb. I positioned myself well, there was a crazy pace from the bottom, I was dropped halfway up the climb, but I wanted to finish well. I kept pushing until one kilometre to go, but I got back on Geraint Thomas and Steven Kruijswijk, and I wasn’t going to attack Geraint in the last kilometre to finish 29th (laughs). So, we finished together. A friend actually asked me to take a selfie with him before he retired. Obviously, I didn’t manage to do it that day because I didn’t have my phone with me (smiles). I wanted to go see him the next day, but I completely forgot, so I hope I’ll have the opportunity to race with him again this season. Anyway, that day certainly made me realize that the climbing level in the WorldTour was extraordinary, even without the “fantastic” ones. I gave it my all up to the kilometre mark, and I finished thirty-third…
“Romain wanted to win by crossing the line first”
The next day, I may have surprised some people in the echelons, but I did everything I could to be in the first group. As soon as I realized it was starting to be tense, I made the effort to position myself in the top 15-20. When the echelon formed, I was happy because I knew I was going to be in it. It’s an exciting moment when you realize that the group is spreading out, that the echelon is shaping up, and that you’re going to make it. I got a bit scared afterwards because a guy exploded in front of me. I managed to make the jump, but I knew I couldn’t let it happen again. I naturally have a power deficit compared to bigger riders, but I think I manage to compensate for it by positioning myself in the right place to be as much protected as possible, and by slipping into small spaces. In a photo taken that day, I am next to Roglic, with my elbows opened. I wrote on Instagram: “ready to fight for position with Primoz!” A friend replied that there were only champions next to me. And it’s true that it was funny to find myself there in the middle. I eventually tried to sprint at the finish, and I just missed the top 10 (11th). I also came close on the last day (12th), where I also wanted to do well because I like these punchy efforts like in Montjuic. We were all going well, especially with Rudy and Brieuc in the final, but also Tom who made an attempt before. I tried to position myself to achieve a good result in this high-speed finish, and it was also the first time that I had used a 56-tooth chainring in racing.
A week later, I was already back in Spain for the Tour of the Basque Country, where we had high ambitions with Guillaume and Romain. I knew I was going to be able to surpass myself with this dynamic, like I did in Oman with David. I was incredibly excited to be with the leaders, especially since I didn’t know them in racing mode. I was looking forward to it. Already on the second day, I wanted to serve the team in preparation for the sprint. I managed to do a big turn to get us back almost to the front of the peloton with Thibaud and Romain. It was a good day that got my Tour of the Basque Country off to a great start. The next day was the stage where Romain finished second. A crazy stage, honestly. We started flat out, we rode at an incredible speed all day, and riders gradually exploded from the back. Halfway through the race, there were only ten men left in front! Some leaders were caught out by this day, but we were still five riders of the team in the final! Rudy and I sacrificed ourselves to position our leaders. Then there was the “roundabout case”, with Romain winning the sprint for second place, then being declared the winner, and then being reclassified back to second place. We went through all the emotions. When we learned he had “won”, there was a small joy, but nothing comparable to a real victory. So when we learned in the evening that they came back on their decision, it wasn’t really a blow. In any case, I think Romain wanted to win by crossing the line first. And nonetheless, we still had a very good day as a team.
“I went to get some water bottles and thought I’d never come back”
The second part of the Tour of the Basque Country will allow me to talk about breakaways in the WorldTour, because I tried to take them over the last three days. The first time, I fought hard, but it went crazy fast up a climb, I was flat out, and I didn’t manage to join the group. It’s really not easy to get into a breakaway in the WorldTour, and I learned that the hard way. Some riders have a lot of bullets because they’re champions. I don’t have many at the moment, so I have to be very smart to be in the right move. I understood that I really shouldn’t do too much to get into the break on the penultimate day. For the first twenty kilometres, I did everything I could to stay in position, follow the attacks, and in the end Healy and Bilbao brutally dropped me. I was flat out, and I saw Alaphilippe and Barguil sprinting at the top of the hill to make it to the front. Even if I had managed to be there, I would have been useless in the breakaway because I had spent too much energy. I was even suffering in the peloton. I knew I was going to have a rotten day. I hung on, hung on, hung on. At one point, Guillaume asked me to go get some water bottles, so I went down to the car and… I thought I’d never come back. The peloton was in single file, going at over 50km/h, I had five bottles in my jersey, and some guys were giving me small pushes because they saw I couldn’t move up. I could see they felt sorry for me. It’s a crazy memory.
That day, I realized that I really paid for making too much effort to get into the break. In the WorldTour, it sometimes takes a very long time for the group to go. These were also breakaways of champions, and I was doing too much against them. Then when the decision was made, I was no longer there. On the last day, which was very hard as always in the Basque Country, Romain and I were well positioned on the first climb. But when the move got away, Romain managed to make the jump, I didn’t. I remember saying to myself “thank goodness I’m not there” because there were twenty minutes of climbing left and I suffered the whole time in the peloton. In short, I probably did too much to be in front, and the result is actually that I never managed to be there. Yet, it was a huge learning experience, and this kind of day definitely served me for the future. Given the profile of the race, the super-steep climbs, the strong field, the exceptional climbers, and the incredible level, the Tour of the Basque Country was surely the toughest week of racing in my career so far. And again: there was only one “free breakaway.” Otherwise, it was always a crazy battle for at least an hour. All of this made the race incredibly hard. I wasn’t ridiculous, but I really suffered during that week.
“When things go well, you have to make the most of it”
The next appointments for me were the three races in the East of France. I love this area! As I studied in Montbéliard for a few years, I have friends in Besançon, which isn’t far away. I had supporters on the side of the road. Some friends from Metz even surprised me by coming on Friday. I discovered their presence on the day’s first climb. They screamed at me, I turned around and wondered how it was possible. My parents also made the trip for this weekend. Personally, I was keen to be there for Guillaume for a long time, as I had done for David in Oman. It’s a role I enjoy. Being close to the leader, listening to his orders out loud in the final, it’s incredible. On the Classic Grand Besançon Doubs, Tom did a crazy job to close the gap on the breakaway, then Rudy did the first part of the work and we managed to get a good position at the bottom of La Malate with Guillaume.
I didn’t really need to make it hard myself because the pace was already high, and when I turned around two kilometres from the finish, I saw that we had a gap. I said to Guillaume “it’s time”, and it matched perfectly to the place where he had planned to attack. He went away alone, and no one brought him back. Once he was out, I could also play for myself and managed to get a small result (8th). I remember Guillaume’s words at the finish. When the leader welcomes you after the line and tells you that you were incredible, you don’t forget it. I feed on that, and it pushes me to keep on committing as I’ve been doing.
Obviously, everyone was expecting us on Saturday, and no one helped us. Oscar Nilsson-Julien did a monster job. I was talked about a lot because I was Guillaume’s last teammate, but someone like Oscar, who rides alone at the front of the peloton for 100 kilometres to control the breakaway, plays an equally important role in the final success. Everyone did their job at one point or another. With 30 kilometres to go, Rudy told us: “It’s all for Guillaume, let’s get going.” He took a huge pull, then Brieuc set a crazy pace on the second-to-last climb. He made an incredible selection and brought us to the foot of Mont Poupet. There were only twenty of us left, he did an amazing job! I pushed hard from the bottom, while saving a bit of energy for the steep sections in order to launch Guillaume, but I was surprised by Clément Berthet’s attack. Guillaume went for it, wore down the guys who tried to get on his wheel, and managed to make Berthet doubt, as he didn’t come back right away. Everyone played it wonderfully that day. I learned of his victory as I crossed the finish line. I didn’t hear anything through the radio because I was still going flat out behind. It was wonderful to relive that moment 24 hours later. It was even more incredible to achieve victory after racing like we did. Sometimes you ride the same way, and victory doesn’t come at the end. So when things go well, you have to make the most of it.
“I thought that maybe victory was possible”
To cap it off, it was the Tour du Doubs. I had circled this day because I realized that, with my current level, I always come against stronger riders than me in the summit finishes. On the other hand, I have more chances of getting a result, or winning, when we break away after a climb in the final. We had initially planned to make it hard forty kilometres from the finish. I attacked, but no one came with me. I was caught at the top of the climb, then I thought I was going to be dropped on the next climb! I was at the limit but managed to stay up there, and I could recover a little after that. On the last hard climb, Guillaume and I found ourselves well positioned and I thought that we had to go for it. It was the last moment to create gaps. I set a strong pace, without looking back, then Guillaume passed me, took over, and told me: “There are only seven of us left, hang on.” He accelerated and I remember telling him “Don’t push too hard, Guillaume, I’m flat out.” A photo was taken at the top, I’m last in the group and you can see that my shoulders are all over the place. We then tried to make the group work together. I didn’t realize it at the time, but watching the replay, I saw that Guillaume took a lot of turns. He said in an interview that he wanted to return me the favor, and I thank him for that. He’s a leader, he didn’t have to do it, but I appreciate that he decided to follow this path. It’s very gratifying for me to know that he was super satisfied with what I did and that he decided to pull more so that the break could go all the way and we could both fight for the win.
It was the first time this year that I thought that maybe victory was possible. I felt that adrenaline rush again and it was incredible to experience that moment. I went through all the stages. On the last false-flat, I remember feeling the cramps coming in my legs. I said to myself: “You’ve done the hardest part; you can’t give up now.” As the finish approached, I told myself that I had to try to be calm and wait for the right moment to try to attack. Thinking that it was possible to win made me surpass myself to do the best I could. I launched my attack at 1500 metres. There was a small 100-meter hill, I was last in the group, and I thought that it was the right moment. Unfortunately, a guy chased me down. Guillaume immediately counterattacked, opened up a gap, but they also brought him back, and it was over. In the sprint, I did my best, but I’m disappointed that we weren’t rewarded with a podium finish (4th). Looking back, I have a little regret about the attack. The timing was good, but I think I should have really taken more run-up in order to tackle the hill 10 km/h faster than them. That would have discouraged them from chasing me. It didn’t pay off, but I think we can be proud of the way we rode. Personally, I enjoyed myself. I knew this weekend could suit me, but I didn’t really expect to be at this level.
“Last year, I was incapable of doing what I did in the Tour du Doubs”
One thing is clear: I’ve taken a step forward. It hasn’t always been reflected in the results, especially in the WorldTour, even if I feel like finishing fortieth overall in a WorldTour race (39th in Catalonia and the Basque Country, editor’s note) isn’t something everyone can do. I think these races have given me strength. Doing what I did in the Tour du Doubs, namely attacking with forty kilometres to go, putting in a big effort, and still being there in the final to fight for the victory, I was incapable of that last year. In the past, I would play with my continental rider’s status. I wasn’t asked to pull if I was in the right group. I was more of a follower. My way of racing has changed. Physically, I’m certainly stronger, but mentally too. Joining Groupama-FDJ has definitely clicked in some ways… For the rest of the schedule, I had the choice between the Tour de Romandie and the French Cup’s rounds in Brittany. I wanted to do some one-day races where I also have the feeling of being a little more active personally. I want to take advantage of this period to benefit from the efforts made in the WorldTour races. I’m happy to return to these races, where there is a little more adrenaline and where the scenarios are much less predictable. There are more opportunities and I want to see what that can lead to. We’ll talk about it in the next episode.
