The Franche-Comté’s races definitely give wings to the Groupama-FDJ cycling team. One year after their hat-trick, the French team has already secured a double this weekend. After conquering La Malate in the Classic Grand Besançon Doubs, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet mastered the Mont Poupet on Saturday, in the Tour du Jura. Perfectly supported by his teammates all day, the French climber ultimately outsprinted his last competitor to secure a second victory in a row. Now it’s time for the final act of the trilogy: the Tour du Doubs.
A few minutes after his victorious finish in Besançon on Friday, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet showed his hand. “I’d like to go for the double,” said the French rider, whose main focus was actually the Tour du Jura this weekend. With 3,000 metres of elevation gain, pretty much gathered in the last sixty kilometres of the course, the second day of racing in Franche-Comté actually looked more suited to pure climbers this Saturday. In the first part of the race, a four-man breakaway led the way five minutes ahead of the peloton. “Yesterday, we let other teams take control, but following Guillaume’s victory, we knew we wouldn’t have a choice today,” said Thierry. “As a consequence, Oscar [Nilsson-Julien] had to do most of the work so that the breakaway didn’t take too much of a lead, because we knew we wouldn’t have much support. He did that perfectly, and he’ll have a good sleep tonight!” “Oscar controlled all alone for almost 100 kilometers, so chapeau to him,” said Brieuc Rolland. Then, as expected, the race really got going as the bunch approached the Chamoz hill, the first of the final’s many climbs.
“Today I was the chaser”, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet
The series of difficulties gradually thinned out the pack, but Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet still had Clément Braz Afonso, Rudy Molard, and Brieuc Rolland alongside him before the tough Thésy hill, forty kilometres from the finish. After yet another selection, a few counterattacks happened with thirty kilometres to go, but Rudy Molard quickly brought order in the peloton and intensified the chase behind a very resilient breakaway. The group’s veteran set the tempo for nearly fifteen kilometres, reducing the gap to less than two minutes as they approached the penultimate climb of the day. On the way up to Saint-Thiébault (2.7 km at 8%), Brieuc Rolland took the lead, halving the gap while reducing the peloton to around twenty riders. The former man from “La Conti” even pushed on up until the last four kilometres, where the sole survivor of the breakaway had a lead of only forty seconds. “We know that the harder the race, the better Guillaume is,” explained Brieuc. “So we wanted to make the penultimate climb as fast as possible, to really wear everyone down. Thierry kept telling me on the radio that my finish line was at the bottom of Mont Poupet. I didn’t think twice, I went flat out, and I knew things were going to go well for Guillaume.”
“Everyone had their part to play,” added Thierry. “Rudy set a strong pace, Brieuc sacrificed himself until the foot of the final climb, he did a great job, then Clément set a fast pace at the bottom of the climb, like the day before.” After a strong 1,500-metre turn, Clément Braz Afonso brought the favourites group barely fifteen seconds behind the leader, and then the final fight could take place. Clément Berthet was the first one to attack, and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet took a few seconds before setting off in pursuit. “I knew it was a good time to attack, I saw he had good legs, so I was expecting it,” explained the Frenchman. “I just wanted to see if anyone else was making the effort in order to assess everyone’s strength. I wanted to have a slightly different strategy than yesterday; I wanted to be a little more conservative. My legs were perhaps not as great, and I think it wasn’t so bad to leave him a bit in front, because it’s never a very comfortable situation.” Although the Groupama-FDJ climber didn’t wait too long to make his effort, leaving everyone else behind, he indeed only made it back to the local rider after a progressive, one-kilometre chase.
“Today I was the chaser, and I really had him in my sights all the way up, so it was quite interesting tactically,” added Guillaume. “I made the effort to get back just before the flatter portion, and then I gambled a little. As I won yesterday, I could afford to play everything for the victory, and not take a turn only to secure a good result. Yesterday, I really made a difference physically. Today, it was more tactical, because I think me and Clément pretty much had the same level.” Back in the wheel of his rival with 1200 metres to go, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet stayed there from then on, without even trying to surprise him on the final slopes. Everything was then decided in a two-man sprint, and after an early launch from Clément Berthet, the rider from Normandy made a perfect counterattack with 200 metres to go to take the lead and keep it until the line. “It’s a rather unusual finish that I’m starting to get to know well after three editions, so I knew when to make my effort,” he explained. “But if I hadn’t won yesterday, maybe I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that today. That’s perhaps what made the difference.” Regardless, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet crossed the finish line of the Tour du Jura this Saturday as a winner, for the second day in a row.
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling”, Brieuc Rolland
“It wasn’t a foregone conclusion,” Thierry said. “We wanted to win at least one race, which we did already on the first day, but the briefing this morning was to go for the win again, and for everyone to do their bit. We fully trusted Guillaume again, and he managed the final climb perfectly. It’s a great victory”. “It’s a pretty amazing feeling when the leader finishes it off,” said Brieuc, smiling. “The satisfaction is complete because you feel useful, and Guillaume is really grateful. It’s a pleasure to work for a guy like him. Communication is really great; we’re all starting to know each other well and we had total confidence in him. It also pushes you to give 100% because you know you’re not doing it for nothing and that you’re really here to win.” The man of the weekend summed up his delight with the following words: “I had some doubts at the start of the season, and a bit of frustration after the Tour of the Basque Country, but everything is forgotten after this weekend. We hadn’t won much since the start of the year, but we’re now able to collect a few victories thanks to a super solid team, as we saw again today. It feels good from a team perspective, but also from a personal one. Before yesterday, I hadn’t won in almost three years. I didn’t wait as long to win my next race (smiles), so I’m super happy!”
“Guillaume came into the team with a lack of confidence,” Thierry added. “He needed a change, and he joined us with a lot of motivation, freshness, and desire. After getting some good legs again in the Basque Country and winning yesterday, he was really riding with a peace of mind today.” Will the team now make it three in the Tour du Doubs tomorrow? “It will be a different race, with a different approach, but anything is possible,” Thierry concluded. “Whatever happens, the weekend was a success. Tomorrow is just a bonus, but we said that last year too… So why not?” “Two out of two is great, but we’re not going to stop there,” added Brieuc Rolland.
