The Groupama-FDJ cycling team once again showed great determination on Friday, in stage 18 of the Tour de France which was made for the breakaway. Valentin Madouas and Quentin Pacher fought hard in the day’s first climb to enter the front group. However, surrounded by thirty riders or so, the two French riders didn’t manage to stand out in the final, both tactically and physically. The 32-year-old puncher was the first to one cross the finish line, in twelfth position, 37 seconds after the winner Victor Campenaerts.
Many teams were counting on this stage 18 to not leave the Tour de France empty-handed. From Gap to Barcelonnette, the hilly terrain perfectly suited a breakaway victory. Like the day before, more than half of the peloton therefore aimed to hit the front, which led to another very fast start. Unlike the day before, however, the first climb was tackled from kilometre 20. “In the end, it was quite straightforward,” said Quentin Pacher. “There were a few attacks before we reached the first difficulty, then it unfolded in quite an usual way. The breakaway went with guys capable of coming over the climbs, and who were fresh enough in this third week. This led to a big group, and given the profile, we knew that UAE Team Emirates would not chase behind.” As no one was well placed overall, 37 riders went clear, including Quentin Pacher and Valentin Madouas for Groupama-FDJ. “I think it was my worst day of the Tour physically speaking,” yet said the Breton. “I found myself in front having felt the right move, and I even dropped from the group a bit after feeling hot on the first climb.”
“It was super hectic”, Quentin Pacher
After the downhill, the former French champion was still able to join his friend Quentin Pacher, as well as some big names such as Wout van Aert, Richard Carapaz, Oier Lazkano, Jai Hindley, Michael Matthews, Michal Kwiatkowski and Geraint Thomas. The peloton let the gap grow to ten minutes while the first dropped riders in front were reported on the Saint-Apollinaire climb, sixty kilometres from the line. However, no one managed to get away before the last classified hill, located with about forty kilometres to go. “Once you are in the breakaway, we have only done half the job,” explained Quentin. “The first group was almost a peloton, and the plan was to break away from the breakaway. It was super hectic from the moment we knew we were going to compete for victory. It was very intense, we had to make a lot of choices, and to have the legs as well. We are in the third week, and I personally lacked a bit of freshness.” He was therefore unable to follow the acceleration of Michal Kwiatkowski at the top of the final climb, while Mattéo Vercher and Victor Campenaerts caught up with the Polish rider shortly before the descent. Five other riders entered a chasing group, and the two Groupama-FDJ riders found themselves behind, in a large group which lost one minute quite fast.
“It felt like hell all day long”, Valentin Madouas
“It came down to details,” said Valentin. “With such a group, it was going to be tactical for sure, and we had to feel the right moves.” The gaps narrowed in the last fifteen kilometres, Valentin Madouas tried to jump across the chasing group, unsuccessfully, and the leading trio did compete for victory. “It wasn’t easy,” added Benoît. “We knew it would be tactical once we got over the climbs. I think the guys were a little on the limit physically. The small regret is perhaps not having dared more, like Vercher who was also at the limit in the hills. We were up there, but something was missing to get the win.” The 28-year-old from Brest, 27th in the stage, confirmed his sports director’s quotes. “Of course I’m disappointed, but I really had a very hard day today,” he said. “I don’t know why. Maybe I hadn’t recovered well from yesterday. In any case, I really s*cked. It felt like hell all day long, I was struggling on all the climbs. We relied on our mental strength to try to get closer because you never know what can happen in cycling. We had to keep believing, we gave everything we had, but all the attacks we have made since the start of the Tour may have taken their toll in this final a bit.”
“We’re going to try again”, Benoît Vaugrenard
Quentin Pacher eventually took part in the sprint in the second chasing group and placed twelfth in the stage. “When you give everything on the bike, you can’t have regrets,” he added. “That’s just racing.” “Maybe we are paying for yesterday’s efforts, but it’s always difficult to know when the efforts are worth making,” concluded Benoît. “We wanted to fight for the stage yesterday, today as well, and we spent a lot of energy. Obviously, there’s disappointment because we come to win, and we are quite far from it. It’s not over, of course, but we know that the mountain stages will be more complicated. We’re going to try to get into the breakaway again, and we’ll see what happens. We don’t have thousands of solutions.” “In any case, we have to try again, and we don’t know what could happen,” confirmed Valentin. “Today’s stage suited us better on paper, but we’ll see over the next few days.”
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