Romain Grégoire had made the second stage of the Vuelta a clear goal. Despite difficult weather conditions and special race circumstances, the 20-year-old from Besançon did live up to his expectations on the heights of Barcelona this Sunday. The puncher from Groupama-FDJ delivered a solid performance as he came second at the top of Montjuic, a few kilometres from the finish. However, he never joined the leading man, Andreas Kron, who claimed the win a few seconds ahead of his chasers. Romain Grégoire then took seventh place: his first personal top-10 in a Grand Tour.
The riders resumed the Vuelta this Sunday as they left it on Saturday evening: under the rain. In Mataró, the starting point of a long loop towards Barcelona, the climatic conditions were actually quite discussed. Due to a technical final and wet roads, the organization first decided to freeze the times at the top of the Montjuic climb, three kilometres from the finish, before granting the teams’ request to move this point nine kilometres from the line, for more safety. In these conditions, the peloton set off at 1:11 p.m. for a “double” race. “I think the decision to neutralize at nine kilometres was very good and welcomed given the final”, explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “Otherwise, it would have been carnage.” “Whether the times were taken on the line, nine or three kilometres from the finish, it didn’t change much for us”, added Romain. “We were aiming for the stage victory”. On the racing side, precisely, five riders took the lead early on: Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-Easy Post), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) and Javier Romo (Astana). Their gap rarely exceeded three minutes, but they “took advantage” of several incidents in the peloton to occasionally gain some time. “The goal was to stay in the front, attentive, careful, to open the eyes and get through the crashes”, added Benoît. “There were some, but overall we got through it”.
“The whole team did a great work”, Benoît Vaugrenard
LThe Groupama-FDJ team was initially spared in the various downhills. However, the slides followed one another in the last hour of racing, and Michael Storer hit the ground twenty kilometres from the finish, though not too seriously. At this point, the remaining leading duo still had a minute gap. They managed to keep fifteen seconds at the nine-kilometre mark, which meant Andrea Piccolo secured the red jersey. From then on, part of the peloton completely stopped its effort, while another continued the fight. “The final suited Romain perfectly, and the whole team did a great work,” said Benoît. “We wanted to give everything for the stage win”, added Romain. “We did a great job for positioning in the technical part between nine and five kilometres from the finish. Lewis was quite impressive. After each corner, he was accelerating as if it were the last time. I thought he was going to stop, but he held on until the end. It was impressive and motivating. Then, it came down to the legs in Montjuic climbs”. With four kilometres to go, a very small bunch led by Groupama-FDJ therefore tackled the last climb, 900 meters long averaging 8.7%. In a perfect position, the young Frenchman first kept calm and then increased the pace. Thanks to a sharp attack, Andreas Kron took a few metres and managed to keep them until the top ahead of Romain Grégoire, second before getting in the downhill. “I missed a little something to be with Kron”, he said later. “The shape was not bad, but the WorldTour pace is something else. I was still there, I wasn’t suffering more than others, but I just wasn’t strong enough”.
“Of course I’m a bit disappointed”, Romain Grégoire
On the descent, Andreas Kron further widened his lead over a chasing quartet. Starting the last kilometre, Romain Grégoire did try to accelerate again, but a few riders eventually made it across from the back. In the lead, the Dane took the victory and the Groupama-FDJ rider fought hard in the sprint to take seventh place of the day. “Romain followed, he was up there”, said Benoît. “He may not have had great feelings today, but he was still in the mix. It bodes well for the coming days. They were all at the limit and we must highlight Kron’s ride”. “The guys did a great job but I couldn’t finish it off, so of course I’m a bit disappointed”, confessed the young man. “It’s disappointing because it was a big opportunity, but the Vuelta is well underway. We are on the right track with the whole team. Of course it’s disappointing, but we also can tell ourselves that we’re not so far away”. Overall, Romain Grégoire now sits eleventh, fifteen seconds from Andrea Piccolo, while Lenny Martinez is twenty-first at nineteen seconds. “They make their debut on a Grand Tour with enormous tension”, concluded Benoît. “They immediately jump in the deep end. I think they have already discovered and learned a lot, especially Lenny.”
No comment