The “Clermont-Ferrand TGV” was on time this Wednesday. In the time trial serving as the fourth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Rémi Cavagna lived up to expectations, securing a very solid seventh place against some top-level competition. A good sign for the French rider, just a few weeks before the French championships. On Thursday, another fight between sprinters and attackers will take place towards Mâcon.
After three lively first stages, divided between attackers and sprinters, the Critérium du Dauphiné entered a new phase starting this Wednesday. Between Charmes-sur-Rhône and Saint-Péray, a real test was on the menu for the GC contenders with a short (17.4 km) but demanding time trial. “The first part was very fast despite a headwind, then we tackled the hard climb of Val d’Enfer (1.6 km at 9.4%) with quite steep gradients,” explained Anthony Bouillod. “After the summit, a very fast descent brought us to the intermediate checkpoint, then the last part was made of false flats and flat roads. There was again a headwind, but these sections were more protected, which allowed the riders to reach quite high speeds.” A crucial point for the race’s favourites, the time trial was also quite important for Rémi Cavagna, former double national champion against the clock. Starting in the middle of the start list, at 3:36 p.m., the Frenchman immediately seemed in the right pace. “I started very fast, but I still saved some energy for the climb, which I knew well,” he said. “The important thing was to ride fast, of course, but also to control his efforts on the first section, then to make a strong climb afterward to maintain the pace and not lose too much time to the favorites,” added Anthony.
“The work done since last winter is bearing fruits,” Anthony Bouillod
The strategy implemented paid off, as the Frenchman set the fastest time at the intermediate checkpoint, sixteen seconds ahead of Tobias Foss. “I struggled a bit to get back up some speed after the timing point,” confessed Rémi. “I lost a few seconds in the last section because I fell apart a little.” He still managed to set the fastest time at the finish, three seconds ahead of the Norwegian. Then, a number of riders covered the time trial without being able to take his place in the “hot seat”, and it wasn’t until thirty minutes later that Matteo Jorgenson set the new best time. After that, only five other riders, including Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, and Mathieu van der Poel, managed to do better than Rémi Cavagna, with the Belgian ultimately winning by a margin of one minute and six seconds over the Groupama-FDJ rider. “Time trial is my specialty, so I’m ambitious and always want to do better, but it wasn’t decided by fifteen seconds,” said Rémi. “I was beaten by stronger riders, but I’m pretty satisfied. I enjoyed today.” “It’s a very good performance,” reacted Anthony. “When you look at the names ahead of him, it’s a quality top 10. If you compare it to his last performances, his top 10 in Romandie was achieved against a less competitive field. His performance is one notch above, and that reflects his progress.”
With his best result at the WorldTour level in nearly two years, Rémi Cavagna was also able to get his bearings two weeks before the French Championship. “He’s improved in recent weeks with the work he’s put in, and he’s coming into this Dauphiné, and soon for the championship, in really good shape,” concluded Anthony. “He’s put a lot of effort into the time trial because it’s something he loves, and the team has also invested to help him get back to his best, both through work on equipment and position, and also through training. I think the work done since last winter is bearing fruit today, in a crucial period for him. Today’s performance should give him confidence and allow him to see that he’s in the game to reclaim his title.” Meanwhile, the Critérium du Dauphiné will continue on Thursday with a hilly stage, potentially suitable to the attackers, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, 68th at 2’41 this Wednesday, will have to wait until Friday with the summit finish in Combloux to show himself.
