Despite a very young squad this Sunday on La Roue Tourangelle, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team tried to leave its mark on the race. Riding in front of his crowd and on his training roads, Thibaud Gruel proved particularly active in the last climbs of the course, but the event ultimately, and as usual, ended with a sprint. Jason Tesson took the win while Marc Sarreau finished just outside the top-20.
The fifth round of the FDJ French Cup was set to take place around Tours on Sunday with the 22nd edition of La Roue Tourangelle. From the start in Descartes, the race initially proved quite classic. Dillon Corkery, Samuel Leroux, Sam Brand, Niels Driesen and Lukas Baldinger took the lead early on, and gained up to three minutes in the first half of the race. “Intermarché-Wanty and TotalEnergies were in control behind for a sprint,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. The chase settled at an average speed of 42 km/h, but with about fifty kilometres to go, a huge crash happened within the bunch. “It was the day’s main event,” said Benoît. “The race was neutralized for about twenty minutes. We got caught in this crash, and we were even the first ones to fall. Almost the entire team hit the ground and Lewis Bower was the most hurt. He was a bit stunned and bruised. Fortunately, everyone was able to get going again, but we broke four bikes, which we had to replace.”
“Thibaud will learn on this kind of race”, Benoît Vaugrenard
At 5:30 p.m., the race finally resumed for the last fifty kilometers, and the breakaway regained a lead of two and a half minutes. The chase got however stronger in the bunch, and after passing the cobbled sector twenty-five kilometres from the finish, the final few climbs were tackled. “As usual, there were attacks and Thibaud was our main card,” explained Benoît. “The guys tried to place him well, then we knew that Lapeira and Retailleau were the men to watch for this type of final.” The young Frenchman, recently promoted to the WorldTour team, managed to follow several moves, but found himself distanced by a group of five with fifteen kilometres to go while the breakaway was caught. “He was quite strong, but he wasn’t in the right timing, and they attacked so hard at the bottom of the climb that he couldn’t get back in,” said Benoît. “He is still young, he never really knows when the time is to make the right effort, but he will learn on this kind of race. Anyway, he was in good shape, and that is promising for the future.” Behind the five leading men, Groupama-FDJ then took part in the chase, and everything came together nine kilometres from the finish.
A final attack took place on the last bump of the route, with six kilometres to go, but no rider was able to escape. A small bunch of around forty units headed towards the finish line. “We wanted to sprint with Marc, but he was at the limit,” added Benoît. “He crashed a few weeks ago, he is just returning to racing, and he came up short in the final.” The French sprinter then took twenty-second place on the day. “The result itself is not very good, but in addition to the crash, we had a very young team, and we knew that it could be difficult in the final,” concluded Benoît. “We are frustrated not to come away with a result, but at the moment, things don’t go our way”.
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