On the final, terrifying climb (3 km at 11%) that concluded stage 3 of the Tour of the Basque Country on Wednesday, David Gaudu proved to be a key player. After bridging across to Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic, the French climber even tried to attack them in the last kilometre. He was eventually caught and slightly dropped, thus taking sixth on the day, just eight seconds behind the winner Pogacar. Thanks to his great performance among the very best, David Gaudu also climbed to 13th place overall.
After David Gaudu’s nice performance in Sestao (4th) on Tuesday, the entire Groupama-FDJ cycling team was told to stay alongside the young Frenchman today, in anticipation of a tough final including three climbs with the brutal wall of Ermualde. At the start of the stage, Franck Pineau and Yvon Madiot’s rider then did not take part in the fight for the breakaway, which lasted for around thirty minutes. Mikkel Honoré (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Gotzon Martin (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Roger Adria (Kern-Pharma), Felix Gall (DSM), Daniel Navarro (Burgos BH), Lawrence Warbasse (AG2R-Citroën) and Oier Lazkano (Caja Rural) eventually took the good move and were given a maximum lead of seven minutes. Shortly after mid-race, the chase finally started in the bunch, and Groupama-FDJ soon took part in it with Clément Davy. “We have to live up to our status and show that we are there,” explained Franck. “It is also a kind of respect towards David. We wanted to catch the break, because if we want to win stages, we also have to work for it”. Clément Davy therefore took some turns at the head of the peloton until the last thirty kilometers and his teammates then perfectly took over, supporting their leader approaching the last three climbs of the stage.
“I raced to win”, David Gaudu
“David had to be in a good position before the first two hills of the final”, said Franck. “Every time we wanted to position him, he was up there, in the top five. It’s certainly satisfying and it’s a real teamwork. Today the guys fulfilled their mission once again. When you have a leader able to win a stage, the teammates must also be up to the task. And they were. Giving them this job will also enable them to gain confidence”. After he safely went over the first two climbs, David Gaudu found himself in a small peloton of about forty riders approaching the final wall of Laudio (3km at 11%), featuring 20% slopes. “It all came down to that climb”, summed up the young man. “I got a bit slowed down just before the bottom by the crash of Woods and Kelderman, but I managed to get back up. In the climb, I did not panic, unlike many riders. Thanks to the recon we did, I knew where the slope was the steepest and therefore where to make my effort”. Always in the background in the first part of the climb, behind Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar, David Gaudu eventually attacked just before the last kilometre to come across the Slovenian duo. Then, he didn’t let himself be intimidated.
“On the last part of the climb, I gave it a go hoping the big favourites would look at each other,” he said. “In the end, they didn’t. I raced to win, I tried. I would rather do that than just trying to follow without having the opportunity to get my hands in the air”. The Frenchman could not follow the final attack of Roglic a few hundred meters from the line and had to settle for sixth place, eight seconds behind the winner Pogacar. “I really liked the fact that he went for broke”, said Franck. “He’s not looking at Roglic or Pogacar, he just goes for it! As soon as he bridged across, he countered them. He’s fighting, he’s not afraid and that’s how we’ll succeed. Anyway, he proves in this very high level field that he is one of the best climbers in the world”. Thanks to his performance, David Gaudu is also continuing his rise in the GC, now sitting in 13th position, 1’29 behind the yellow jersey Primoz Roglic. “It’s been going well for the last two days”, added David, “but there are three more tough stages to come on this Tour of the Basque Country. We’ll need to keep going like that”.
“I want him to have fun”, Franck Pineau
On Thursday, another very hilly stage with the Erlaitz climb (4 km at 10%) twenty kilometers from the finish will be on the menu. “If he wants to win a stage, he’ll have to beat the best,” concluded Franck. “He will have to try, as he did today. I don’t want to hear too much about the GC yet. It comes naturally anyway just being up there in the mix. I would like us to win a stage, but more than anything, to play. I want David to have fun, like he did yesterday and today. The most important thing for me is that he enjoys himself. He’s doing well and we will continue to fight. We will try to do what we have been doing for two days. Tomorrow could be another stage to ‘have fun’ and we will try to seize the opportunity if it arises”.
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