The sprinters’ plans failed on Friday on stage 1 of the Boucles de la Mayenne. In Juvigné, Pierre Latour won after attacking in the final two kilometres, while Paul Penhoët took second place in the peloton, which meant third of the stage. Tenth on the day, Thibaud Gruel retained his yellow jersey on the eve of the race’s “queen” stage.
After celebrating his first professional win on Thursday evening and taking the lead of the Boucles de la Mayenne’s GC, Thibaud Gruel set off on Friday for a 166-kilometre stage between Saint-Berthevin and Juvigné with the clear goal of keeping his position. To achieve this, he and the team had to handle things well on the winding and bumpy finishing circuit, which had to be covered three times. “The pressure was on us to control the race, and no other teams came to support us, but Johan did a great job at first, controlling the four breakaway riders,” explained William Green. “He pulled for about 100 kilometers, then Clément brought the gap down as we approached the circuit, and Cyril also took over in the final. It was always going to be a tight balance to let the breakaway stay up to take the bonuses on the last lap, but we didn’t quite manage that.” “We managed to control the race without trouble at the start, then it obviously became more nervous as we approached the finish, on this quite tiring circuit,” added Thibaud.
“The hardest part is yet to come”, Thibaud Gruel
With 10 kilometres to go, everything came back together, and the peloton was able to fight for the final intermediate sprint. Some took advantage of the situation to launch attacks, but everything ultimately came down to the final uphill section, less than two kilometres from the finish. “It was really hard given that the finish was really close,” Paul Penhoët said. “There were still three of us in a good position, Thibaud, Tom, and me. Latour attacked, Tom had the legs to follow, but he didn’t trust himself enough.” Pierre Latour then broke away and couldn’t be caught after the final, mostly downhill kilometre. “For me, I then just had to launch Thibaud for the sprint,” Paul added. “I opened just before the last kick, 300 metres from the finish, and I eventually held on until the end to take third place. Thibaud couldn’t take the bonus seconds, but he keeps the yellow jersey, and that’s the most important thing.” Beaten by Biniam Girmay in the peloton sprint, three seconds behind the winner, Paul Penhoët also secured his fourth podium finish of the season.
With his yellow jersey, Thibaud Gruel finished tenth today. “Thibaud couldn’t quite follow the wheel of Paul, but it was still a good day for the team because no GC rider took bonus seconds in the final,” William summarized. “I’m taking it one stage at a time, and I’ve already done one,” Thibaud said. “We worked well as a team, we had a good day, but the hardest part is yet to come.” Indeed, the overall standings are expected to be mostly decided tomorrow. “It’ll be a race of attrition,” William concluded. “Firstly, it’s 215 kilometers, on a hard road surface, and with the climbs, it will be really demanding. We’ll be attacked but we’ll be ready to fight back”.
