On Thursday in Bort-les-Orgues, Romain Grégoire took advantage of the queen stage of the Tour du Limousin to further consolidate his throne. In the yellow jersey since his victory on day 1, the Frenchman did not crack under pressure. Quite the opposite. The 20-year-old lived up to his status and crushed the competition in the last kilometre of the final climb. As a proper leader, but also after remarkable teamwork, he claimed his second victory of the week and also widened his lead in the general classification. Michael Storer, seventh on the day, remains third overall before the final in Limoges on Friday.
This is the day everyone had been talking about since the start of the Tour du Limousin. Stage 3, of almost 200 kilometres between Sarran and Bort-les-Orgues, could indeed be considered as the queen stage. Not just because of its 3000 meters of elevation gain, but especially because of the double ascent of the Puy de Bort (6km at 6%) in the last thirty kilometres. Rarely has such a tough final been organized on the event, which surely made for a decisive day. For the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, the first task was, as the day before, to let go the right breakaway. It was achieved after about forty minutes as six men hit the front: Nicolas Debeaumarché (St-Michel-Mavic-Auber 93), Martin Marcellusi (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizane’), Callum Macleod (A Bloc CT), Thomas Bonnet (TotalEnergies), Andrea Mifsud (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) and Alessandro Iacchi (Team Corratec). “We knew that we should not count on the help of our main opponents today”, said Philippe Mauduit. “Indeed, we did not get any help, and we did not try to get some either because this kind of day makes a group. I didn’t want anyone’s help today, I wanted us to take our responsibilities, so that the boys could remember that for a long time.”
“I have a though to all those who sacrificed”, Romain Grégoire
Like the two previous days, Matthieu Ladagnous therefore took the lead after the first hour of racing and set the pace within the bunch. Later, he was joined by Fabian Lienhard, and the gap never really grew. The Swiss man even reduced it to four minutes entering the last forty kilometers and kept on pushing to the bottom of the first climb of Puy de Bort. The peloton was obviously more nervous at that point and get back just 2’40 away from the breakaway, as Rein Taaramae tried to go alone in chase. The Estonian remained in-between throughout the final loop while Reuben Thompson and Rudy Molard kept control of a pack reduced to around fifty men. “It came down quite simply to the legs today”, said Philippe. “I think the pace set by our guys killed the competition. Matthieu was exceptional again today, Fabian did an incredible job. When Rein Taaramae put us in a bit of trouble, Reuben and Rudy did the perfect job and that actually helped us make the race hard.” At the end of the first climb and towards the final ascent, the gaps narrowed while the yellow jersey still had four teammates alongside him.
Everything finally got back together shortly after starting the final climb, less than five kilometres from the finish. Rein Taaramae was caught, the last fugitive Marcellusi also, and the peloton got tiny really quickly due to a very hard pace. “Initially, we hoped to have Rudy and Reuben with us at the foot of the last climb”, explained Romain Grégoire. “We didn’t have them because they had to work before, and we had to handle it with Michael”. Naturally, a dozen men soon moved away from the rest of the pack, then the yellow jersey jumped in the wheel of Kévin Vauquelin when the latter tried an attack. Then, Michael Storer tried to control the group, while neutralizing the major offensives. “The last climb was not easy with the attacks of Vauquelin, Gesbert, Rodriguez, Herrada”, resumed Romain. “There were a lot of guys, but we had the numbers with Michael and that’s also why I managed it well. I think he did well to do some little accelerations, I like it and it avoids dragging the others until the top”. Following a slight easing-off moment, Oscar Rodriguez, quite far in the GC, still managed to take a ten-second lead two kilometres from the summit. “Michael had to sacrifice himself and he did”, greeted Romain. “He sacrificed in the final, but I would like to have a thought for all the others who sacrificed beforehand”.
“It will serve as a basis for them”, Philippe Mauduit
In the last hundreds of metres, the gap stabilized, and shortly after the passage of the flamme rouge, Jesus Herrada tried to attack to get victory. However, the yellow jersey jumped in his wheel straight away and dropped him a few moments later to catch Rodriguez and himself grab another win. With control and strength, Romain Grégoire then conquered his second bouquet of the week and his fourth of the year. “I really hurt myself”, he said shortly after the finish. “It’s a perfect day. The team controlled all day, and we took our responsibilities. I think all seven of us are exhausted tonight, but it was worth it. I felt good, I gave everything I had left on the last climb, and we can say it wasn’t bad. Actually, I was waiting for someone to launch. I wasn’t super confident at all at the start of the climb, but when we got to two kilometres to go, it was a little less steep and I still felt good, so I thought that it was going to be ok, and that they weren’t going to drop me. I had a good amount of confidence, even if the stage win was really a bonus. If Rodriguez took the bonus seconds, that was fine with me too, but when Herrada went with 800 metres to go, I just had to keep pushing until the end”.
“Romain and Michael finished it off brilliantly. It’s a great victory, and it will serve as a basis for them”, added Philippe Mauduit. “It’s a perfect day but it was really difficult,” said Rudy. “It was not easy to control the breakaway all day and then to control the attacks in the final, but we knew that Romain was in good condition and that the finish suited him well. The whole team did a great job, and it feels good to finish the day like this. We won the stage, and we took an extra lead in the general classification for tomorrow as well. It’s all good!” In addition to another enthusiastic celebration, Romain Grégoire did make a small gap over his main competitor for the GC victory. Together with the bonus seconds, it now gives him a 38-second lead. Third, Michael Storer is 50 seconds down. “There are still 170 kilometres left tomorrow, I think the others are not going to give up, so it’s far from over”, said the yellow jersey. “It’s a difficult day to approach, but we are still quite serene given the collective strength of the team”. “The Tour du Limousin still is a hard race, and you have to control the start of the stages well and do what is necessary”, concluded Philippe. “We expect to be attacked one last time, but the guys showed that they are united and solid, and I believe that we must approach the final day with confidence”.
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