As expected, the second stage of the Boucles de la Mayenne offered quite a show this Saturday. After a very lively final lap around Bais, during which he resisted his main rivals’ attacks, Thibaud Gruel was forced to let two men escape. Stage winner Aaron Gate therefore took the yellow jersey away from him by two seconds. The young man from the Groupama-FDJ cycling team still remains on the overall podium (3rd) ahead of a final round that promises to be explosive in Laval on Sunday.
A very bumpy profile was on the menu of the “queen” stage of the Boucles de la Mayenne on Saturday, between Sainte-Suzanne and Bais. With 210 kilometres to cover, and five laps of a very hilly circuit, the general classification could indeed change significantly on this third day of racing. With the yellow jersey in the team, namely Thibaud Gruel, Groupama-FDJ obviously expected a tough battle. This was confirmed from the start. “We knew it was going to be a big fight for the breakaway, and it certainly was, but before that, there was a bonus sprint after 13 kilometres,” William Green introduced. “Clément and Paul did a good job to take 2nd and 3rd places, even if Lapeira took three seconds. Then, we controlled the day with Decathlon-AG2R. It was a small breakaway of five riders, but it was very strong, and the gap was always 3-4 minutes. We used Johan first and he rode until he had absolutely nothing left. Then Clément and Cyril took over to try to bring the gap down, but it proved quite challenging. The heat was for sure a factor in this. Other teams then came to ride, as they also realized they had a lot to lose”.
“I did my best,” Thibaud Gruel
Following a strong push, the gap eventually came down to one minute and a half entering the final lap of the circuit, with twenty-seven kilometres to go, while barely sixty riders were still in the pack. “At one point, we also had to sacrifice Tom,” William added. “We didn’t want to close the gap completely because we wanted the breakaway to take the bonus seconds, but Tom was probably a bit stronger than he expected. So, when the gap came down, there was a pause that created an opportunity for Pierre Latour to attack.” Always at the forefront of the peloton, and particularly careful to the French champion Paul Lapeira, Thibaud Gruel chose not to follow this attack with thirteen kilometres to go. “It was a crazy final, and everyone was out to get me, which is normal,” he said. “I tried to follow what I could follow, but above all to put out the fire where it was most dangerous. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Latour took the time bonuses, given that he was a little further back in the general classification”. Unfortunately, as the yellow jersey group didn’t include many riders anymore, no one really took control, and Latour’s gap quickly grew to thirty seconds.
On the final two climbs of the circuit, Thibaud Gruel brilliantly responded to the attacks from Benoit Cosnefroy and Paul Lapeira, also gaining a time bonus in the intermediate sprint, but Latour managed to stay away before starting the downhill to Bais. The young rider from Tours then tried to cover the various counterattacks, and only Aaron Gate managed to break away to catch the leader and narrowly claim victory. The Groupama-FDJ rider ultimately finished in a small peloton, five seconds later. For two seconds, he therefore had to give away the yellow jersey to the New Zealander, slipping to third place overall on Saturday evening. “I’m a little disappointed, I was close to keeping my jersey, but I don’t have too many regrets,” he said. “I don’t think I made any big mistakes. I clearly expected to be attacked, I did my best, but I knew I also needed a bit of luck.” “Honestly, we got the most out of each rider over a 210-kilometer stage, in very difficult conditions,” William added. “Kudos to Gate. We gave our best today and we have no regrets. Tomorrow, the technical circuit may suit us, and we will for sure give everything to try to take back the jersey. It’s not over yet.”
