The Tour de Romandie’s GC contenders didn’t wait for the summit finish in Thyon 2000 to show themselves. Despite the final thirty kilometres being totally flat on Thursday’s second stage, they did play the leading roles. The race exploded with fifty kilometres to go, and Rémy Rochas managed to keep pace within a group of about fifteen riders. Ultimately, five men took advantage of the main favorites looking at each other to fight for victory, a minute ahead of the rest of the group, where the Groupama-FDJ rider took fourteenth place. The French climber now sits in eleventh place overall.
Things got serious right away this Thursday on the Tour de Romandie. Barely three kilometres after leaving La Grande Béroche, the peloton tackled a climb of nearly nine kilometers averaging almost 8%. “We really had to be careful from the start, not necessarily by making moves but especially by following them,” explained Rémy Rochas. “That’s what Stefan did at first, then I entered a chasing group myself, but I didn’t leave it all on the road because the peloton was right behind, and Remco also attacked at the top.” After a fierce battle that lasted more than forty minutes, five riders were finally able to establish the day’s breakaway, which the peloton however controlled quite early on. The following climb of Mauborget was done at a solid pace, and the bunch only got bigger in a flatter portion later on. Yet, it was only for a short time. The chase undertaken by Remco Evenepoel’s teammates led to another selection on the climb of Les Grattes, seventy kilometres from the finish, before tackling the final ascent of the day, already faced the day before: the steep Chaumont climb (3 km at 12%).
“It’s promising for what’s to come”, David Gaudu
“Until the last thirty kilometres, you could say it was a mountain stage,” Rémy said. “It never really eased off all day, and the course was made for it,” added David Gaudu. Fifty kilometers from the finish line, the peloton shattered, the breakaway lost its entire lead, and about twenty riders broke away about a kilometre from the summit. “I felt great personally, and I was in the favourites group,” said Rémy. “It’s a nice feeling when there’s a hard pace and you realize there’s only fifteen guys left.” “I took my own pace on the last climb because I felt like I was on the limit right from the bottom,” David explained. “Eventually, I was maybe a little less cooked than I thought, because I still did a good climb. That’s promising for what’s to come”. The Frenchman got to the summit about twenty seconds behind the favourites group but was unable to bridge across since the action kept on going at the front. “The final was a little more complicated tactically,” Rémy added. “Everyone was looking at Remco a bit. Personally, I felt the cramps coming a bit when we reached the flat section, so I tried to save energy and had to ease off a bit when the guys went away.”
“I’m happy with the form”, Rémy Rochas
With about twenty-five kilometres to go, five riders took advantage of a period of wavering to break away, quickly gaining a one-minute lead due to a lack of cooperation among the race’s favorites. The chase then didn’t prove hard enough, and the leading men were able to fight for victory in La Grande Béroche, with Lorenzo Fortunato claiming victory. Fifty-six seconds later, Rémy Rochas took fourteenth place, while Lorenzo Germani and David Gaudu finished in a small peloton twenty seconds behind. “I have a little regret about the breakaway and the final result, but I’m happy with the form for my return to racing, and I hope to make good use of it in the coming days,” commented Rémy. “Days like this one will help me improve, because I haven’t had any yet this year,” said David. “It was a nice surprise to see Rémy in front,” summarized Stéphane Goubert. “It’s a shame he couldn’t follow that five-man move that would have allowed him to compete for the win. We always want more, but it’s already very good to see him at this level. What David is showing is also very encouraging. We have to be patient and continue to be satisfied with small improvements. Overall, the five guys heading to the Giro are improving.”In the general classification, Rémy Rochas is in eleventh place on Thursday evening, exactly one minute behind new leader Alex Baudin. “Tomorrow’s third stage is special, with a very punchy finish,” Stéphane said. “It remains to be seen whether teams will be motivated to control the race or whether there will be a big fight for the breakaway.” “We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, then on Saturday, the legs will do the talking in the mountains,” Rémy concluded.
