This is what can be called a dream start for Romain Grégoire and the Groupama-FDJ cycling team! In the short opening stage of the Tour de Suisse, the young Frenchman took advantage of a crazy start to the race to enter a breakaway of around thirty riders! The peloton couldn’t compete with this group, which therefore fought for victory in the final fifteen kilometres. Among the strongest on the last climb, the rider from Besançon then broke away on the downhill and kept on going with a ten-kilometre solo to finish it off in style! In addition to his first WorldTour victory this season, Romain Grégoire took the leader’s yellow jersey.
A very intense start to the Tour de Suisse was expected on Sunday on the first stage, taking place around Küssnacht. Over a course of barely 130 kilometres, with a very steep climb after twenty kilometres of racing, but also with twenty kilometres to go, the race promised to be quite open. The first few minutes confirmed it, and the day’s breakaway took time to establish itself. “We really thought it could be a day for the breakaway,” explained William Green. “In that case, it was probably going to be a strong breakaway, which would go clear on the first climb. The stage was obviously really suitable for Romain if the breakaway was caught, but we initially wanted to put Valentin in front today. In the end, it went full gas on the climb, then it was chaos on the descent and after”. A large number of attacks occurred inside a fragmented peloton, until twenty-eight riders managed to open a proper gap around kilometre 40. “We had Stefan and Romain in front first,” William explained. “Stefan followed many moves, so we were represented there, then Romain followed one move and it was the right one!” “I hadn’t planned to take the breakaway this morning, but it kept on attacking from all sides, and we had to follow the moves,” added Romain.
“Romain is in super form,” William Green
After the first third of the race, the Frenchman found himself with about twenty competitors at the front, and with a lead that quickly exceeded three minutes. “I was the only one from the team, but there were squads with numbers who also had their GC rider,” Romain added. “I focused on them a bit. As long as they were in control, there was no need to move”. “It was actually a super hard tempo in this breakaway,” said William. “It was impossible for anyone to attack.” This was also reflected in the peloton’s inability to really get closer from the fugitives. Entering the final forty kilometres, while pouring rain appeared on the course, the gap between the two groups remained over three minutes. Twenty kilometres later, the breakaway approached the decisive climb of Michaelskreuz (3.9 km at 8.9%) with a good margin, which was more than enough to go for victory. “Romain rode most of the climb in the top five positions, then when O’Connor took over and rode a hard tempo, he was still there comfortable,” William explained. The selection initially came from behind, but about a kilometre from the summit, the young man quickly reacted to an acceleration from Julian Alaphilippe, before pursuing the effort with the former double world champion, Kévin Vauquelin and Bart Lemmen.
The four men broke away from the rest of the breakaway at the summit, and after a kilometre of downhill, Romain Grégoire gradually distanced himself from his last three competitors. “I think we were roughly at the same level,” he said. “At the top of the last climb, I wanted to get in front to make the descent safely and not be affected by the others’ lines. In the end, after 2 or 3 wet bends, I found myself with a small gap, and I thought that it was worth taking a little more risk. So I went flat out to the end. I don’t think I was stronger, but I managed to make the difference technically.” However, his lead didn’t initially exceed 6-7 seconds, and it is therefore thanks to his raw power that he stayed away in a final uphill section before entering the last six, more linear kilometers. “His performance in the final kilometres shows that he’s in super form,” William pointed out. “Romain was probably the fastest in the sprint, but he rode away solo and really committed to it.”
“I’m proud of this victory,” Romain Grégoire
While the gap remained more or less the same for some time, the Groupama-FDJ rider finally managed to get the better of his rivals at the start of the final five kilometres, despite a relentless chase behind him. His lead indeed increased to ten seconds, then to fifteen entering the final kilometre. In control in the last moments, Romain Grégoire was even able to take his time to enjoy this resounding success. “It’s always exceptional to win, especially at the WorldTour level,” he said a few minutes later. “It’s just pure joy and a great relief. After what happened in the Basque Country and Ardèche, it also feels good to win with some margin, and in a clear and clean way. I’m proud of this victory, I’m super happy, and I’m going to enjoy it!” “Romain is a special rider,” added William. “He’s always motivated, he knows what he wants, and he just completely went for it today. It was really special how he won. It’s also the last preparation race before the Tour, there were a lot of strong guys at the start or in the breakaway, so I think that makes it even more meaningful for him.”The icing on the cake: Romain Grégoire took the leader’s yellow jersey at the end of this first day of racing, which the main GC riders concluded more than three minutes behind the young Frenchman. “A yellow jersey in a WorldTour race isn’t a usual thing,” he said. “The Tour de Suisse is already a success, but we’ll take it one stage at a time. Tomorrow, I should be able to hold on to it. And now that I’ve got a lead in the general classification, I might as well fight every day and see where it takes me.”“We didn’t come here with any particular ambition for the general classification,” concluded William. “We were really focused on the stages, and we’ve already won one thanks to Romain’s performance today. Now, we’re going to do our best to defend the yellow jersey for as long as possible and we’ll see what comes out, even if there are still opportunities on the stages that we certainly won’t sacrifice. Johan will unfortunately not be with us tomorrow after he was forced to abandon. He would have been perfect to control the race, but the team we have here is very strong and we’re confident for what comes next.”
