Three weeks after the Grand Départ in Florence, the 2024 Tour de France came to an end on Sunday with a time trial between Monaco and Nice. Tadej Pogacar claimed his sixth stage win while Lenny Martinez, Quentin Pacher, and Romain Grégoire all placed in the top-15 of the day. A great way to end the race, but not enough to change the mixed results of the last month of competition.
Under other circumstances, the 33.7 kilometres from Monaco to Nice could have been a real thrill. This was not the case on Sunday, since Tadej Pogacar had secured his yellow jersey beforehand, and all that remained was the fight for the final stage victory. With La Turbie (8.1 km at 5.7%) and a part of the Col d’Èze (1.6 km at 8.8%) on the route, before a long descent towards Nice, it seemed clear that the GC contenders would compete for victory. For a moment, however, Lenny Martinez was able to sit on the “hot seat” thanks to a solid time of 48’24. The young Frenchman remained there for more than an hour then was beaten by ten seconds by Harold Tejada. Around 6 p.m., Quentin Pacher and Romain Grégoire set excellent times, in 48’58, and only the GC men eventually finished in front of the Groupama-FDJ’s riders. Tadej Pogacar took another impressive win in 45’24, and Lenny Martinez eventually got eleventh place, his best result on the Tour. “I’m really satisfied with my time trial,” said the young man. “I finally had good feelings on this Tour, it was nice. I did it 105% and was dead at the finish. It’s a nice way to finish the race.” “It was a special time trial, I had good feelings and I enjoyed it,” added Quentin, 14th.
“We don’t come just to ride aggressively”, Benoît Vaugrenard
Although Romain Grégoire (15th) joined his two teammates at the top of the rankings to achieve a nice team performance in this last stage, Groupama-FDJ however concluded this 111th Tour de France without a win. “They finished the Tour in a good way, but now the Tour is over,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “We don’t have the victory we came for. The riders’ commitment and motivation were there, we rode aggressively, but we sometimes saw that we lacked a bit of physical strength to win. On certain stages, it seemed really doable, but it was also strategic at some point and required a bit of luck. There were very few stages for us, we had to target them well. We did some nice things, some less nice. I am satisfied with the guys, who gave their all, but I am disappointed because we came to win, not just to ride aggressively. There were opportunities, but we had to be as precise and smart as possible. This is what we missed. We will learn from our mistakes, analyse all that and work again for next year.” Yet, it definitely wasn’t for lack of trying. Seven of the eight Groupama-FDJ riders indeed took at least one breakaway (5 for Valentin Madouas, 4 for Romain Grégoire, editor’s note) and the team found itself at the front on twelve of the nineteen road stages.
“We also need the stars to be aligned”, Valentin Madouas
“For sure, there’s a bit of disappointment, but there were only five opportunities for the breakaways, and we had to be in good shape and in front on those days,” said Valentin Madouas. “It’s part of the Tour, we know that the opportunities are few, but we’ll be able to get this win if we continue like this. This is the first time in several years that we have been focused on this goal of winning a stage. I think we had a good Tour, but at this level, we also need the stars to be aligned. We didn’t manage to finish it off when we had the chance. There is also frustration because I felt like I could win some days, but it was never in the right stage at the right time. I think we should keep doing what we’re doing, but there will obviously be things to improve.” “The feelings are quite mixed,” confirmed Romain. “We had a goal, which was the stage victory. It’s July 21 in Nice and we don’t have it. Of course, we’re disappointed, even if there are some positive things. Physically, I was where I hoped to be, and I still managed to be offensive on a few occasions.” The best result therefore remained Quentin Pacher’s third place in Bologna, on stage 2. “I have been in breakaways many times and I was aggressive in this Tour,” he said. “As a team, we wanted to get closer to the stage victory, but we didn’t do better than this third place. We will have to draw conclusions and come back with the same ambition, the same desire and a little more strength next year.”
“I needed this Tour de France”, David Gaudu
David Gaudu, who entered two breakaways and had a great stage on the “gravel” roads around Troyes, also made a rather mixed assessment. “It was a difficult Tour de France,” he said. “Physically, I was struggling every day, but I always wanted to give everything and not give up mentally. I had a few decent days, even good ones like in the Tourmalet or on the white roads stage, but unfortunately each time I got a backlash afterwards. In any case, this Tour de France served me to work, and to accumulate racing days, which I needed after two or three years without racing much. I needed this Tour de France for the Vuelta, and I will need the Vuelta for the next few years.” From a team point of view, the French climber could only agree with his teammates’ analysis about the past three weeks. “We tried every day with what we had, and the team didn’t give up,” he concluded. “We only missed one breakaway, that of Troyes, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. I hope we come back stronger.”
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