In the opening of the “Ardennes” week, Romain Grégoire lived up to the expectations this Sunday on the Amstel Gold Race. On Dutch soil, the young Frenchman did find himself up there with the race favorites. And while he couldn’t keep up with the terrific trio that battled for victory after the Cauberg, he did, however, put up a superb fight in the chasing group to ultimately secure seventh place on the day. A very solid start.
A week after the end of the cobbled Classics, it was time for the punchers to take the spotlight this Sunday with the start of the “Ardennes Classics”. More precisely, it was not in the Ardennes, but in Dutch Limburg that the first act took place with the Amstel Gold Race, over 256 kilometres and across no fewer than thirty-four hills of varying difficulty. Before this continuous up-and-down sequence, Rémi Cavagna took advantage of a relatively flat start to the race to take the lead in a breakaway of eight riders. This group took a maximum advantage of about five minutes on the peloton, before the latter decided to accelerate, in a very serious way. “It was a very tough race, there was a huge pace all day long,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “I’ve rarely seen that on the Amstel Gold Race, with many riders already being dropped after 130 kilometres.” “It was a pretty crazy race,” confirmed Romain Grégoire. “I think we weren’t expecting such a fast pace from the start. As we reached the final, we were all at the limit, and it exploded quickly.” Kevin Geniets concluded: “I’ve rarely seen a race with such a fast pace and where, after 200 kilometres, you could see riders already completely dead.”
“I rode the race I had to ride,” Romain Grégoire
Despite the furious pace, Rémi Cavagna was still able to keep a small lead after the first time up the Cauberg, 85 kilometres from the finish. With three other riders from the breakaway, the “Clermont-Ferrand’s TGV” pushed on for about ten more kilometres before the peloton made it across. From then on, the first moves began, Valentin Madouas tried to join the party, but it was ultimately from the back that the peloton gradually thinned out. At least until the bottom of the Gulperberg, less than fifty kilometres from the finish. Julian Alaphilippe then opened up the big fight, went away with Tadej Pogacar, then the latter continued on his own. In a shattered peloton, Romain Grégoire and Valentin Madouas survived the Kruisberg, then only the younger one was able to resist when Remco Evenepoel reduced the chase group to around fifteen units on the Keutenberg. At the summit, Matias Skjelmose counterattacked, and the world time trial champion then joined him in pursuit. “I was already flat-out when they went away, I couldn’t go with them,” said Romain. “I rode the race I had to ride. I have no regrets.”
While the chasing duo gradually closed in on Pogacar, the second chase group remained a bit far in the final thirty kilometres. Romain Grégoire and his companions were about thirty seconds back at the penultimate time of the finish line, but then found themselves a minute behind entering the final ten kilometres. “Everyone was where he belonged, and the three in front were in another league,” he said. “I fought on every hill to stay with this group and compete for the top five at the finish.” Although the leaders looked a bit at each other on the final climb of the Cauberg, two kilometres from the finish, the chase group was unable to get back into the podium fight. Behind Skjelmose, the surprise winner, Romain Grégoire battled to secure the best possible position. Beaten by Wout Van Aert, Michael Matthews, and Louis Barré, he ultimately finished seventh. “I did a decent sprint,” he said. “I could have opened a little earlier to have more space, but after 250 kilometres at such a fast pace, everyone is where he belongs. We’ll be happy with that. A top 10 at this level isn’t so bad”. “Romain is there, among the best. There were just three stronger riders today, but we can’t have any regrets,” concluded Benoît. Next stop: La Flèche Wallonne.
