As expected, the second week of the Tour de France ended this Sunday with a breakaway victory in Carcassonne. As anticipated, the battle to enter the front group in this fifteenth stage proved quite fierce. Ultimately, Valentin Madouas and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet managed to break away from the peloton halfway through the race, but the Groupama-FDJ duo was unable to really join the fight for the stage victory, which was taken solo by Tim Wellens. The former French champion finished tenth, his teammate twentieth, thus consolidating his thirteenth place overall. It’s now time for some rest.
Since the “Grand Départ” in Lille, many riders and teams had stage 15 of the Tour de France in the back of their mind. From Muret to Carcassonne, the hilly 170 kilometres were perfectly suited to a breakaway victory. With a smile, Romain Grégoire even said on Sunday morning that “150 riders” wanted to be at the front. The battle promised to be fierce, and the first turning point came after twenty kilometres when a crash split the peloton in two. “Pogacar was in front, so it went full gas in the back, and with the crosswind, it really made the race hard,” said Valentin Madouas. Within the first peloton, Lewis Askey and Romain Grégoire tried to follow the attacks, but it was ultimately Clément Russo who found himself in the first breakaway of a dozen men. After about forty kilometres, the peloton more or less bunched up, but the pressure was maintained by some teams that were not represented at the front. The chase kept on going until the first climb of the day, 95 kilometres from the finish, then on the Côte de Sorèze (6 km at 5.5%), right after. “Almost everything got back together, and it really came down to mental strength,” added Valentin. “All the teams tried to put someone in front. We really had to hang on.”
“We came up against stronger guys,” Benoît Vaugrenard
With his leader Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, the French puncher took advantage of the peloton being close to enter a counterattack, while Clément Russo was caught. “On a good day, Romain would have normally been in front with them, but I don’t think he really had good legs today,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. Several riders also immediately attacked in the lead to prevent the second group from coming back, and eight riders led the way toward the final climb of the day, with about forty seconds on the chasers, which included the two Groupama-FDJ riders. Valentin Madouas attempted to break away from the chase group just before the Pas du Sant (3 km at 10%), but further attacks at the front again prevented him from bridging across. At the top of this climb, with about fifty kilometres to go, the former French champion reunited with his teammate in a larger group, but Tim Wellens had already flown to win, about two minutes ahead. “There are no major regrets,” confessed Valentin. “After the tough days in the Pyrenees, I think I lacked a bit of energy, and I was a little sick. We knew it was going to be a very difficult day, and we really experienced a hell of a stage.”In the closing kilometres, the second chasing group was still able to catch almost the entire first one, allowing the French rider to join the sprint for third place. He ultimately took tenth on the day, 1’36 behind the winner, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet finished twentieth. “This kind of stage is sometimes harder than a mountain stage, and we came up against stronger guys than us,” Benoît said. “The rest day will do everyone good because they are extremely tired.” The team’s leader also consolidated his thirteenth place overall before the second rest day scheduled on Monday. “I think Guillaume will get better and better,” Valentin concluded. “The third week is his week. We will try to support him, go in breakaways, have fun at the front, and why not aim for victory with the team in Pontarlier. I don’t forget the sprint in Valence for Paul, who is going very well. We have a nice team that will be able to do some things by the end of the Tour de France”.
