In a tough and lively final around Diekirch this Friday, on stage 3 of the Tour de Luxembourg, David Gaudu showed off his nice current shape. After two strong attacks on the finishing circuit, the Frenchman eventually finished with the main favorites, in fourth position, but 40 seconds behind the winner Mauri Vansevenant. The Groupama-FDJ climber now sits in 10th place overall before the decisive time trial on Saturday.
With nearly 3,800 metres of elevation gain, the third stage of the Tour de Luxembourg, on Friday, was also considered as the “queen” one. Many hills featured along the riders’ way, and no fewer than seven had to be tackled one after the other in the last thirty kilometres of the stage. Despite a tricky terrain all day, only two riders took the lead early on, and the race proved quiet for a while. “For us, the goal was to make it hard quite early,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It didn’t suit us that there were only two riders in the front. The race wasn’t hard enough. So with the whole team, we really pushed on the pace on a three-kilometre hill at km 114 to get the race going again. The finishing circuit was hard, but we also wanted to eliminate riders and make it easier for David. After our strong push, two riders came out, the speed increased, and it was perfect for us.” Four men eventually got to the final difficulties in front of the pack. As for Groupama-FDJ, they kept on pushing for David Gaudu, notably through Kevin Geniets and Valentin Madouas before the first time on the finish line.
“David was one of the strongest”, Benoît Vaugrenard
The attacks then followed one another on the longest climb of the circuit (1.4 km at 8%) and Davide Formolo and Mauri Vansevenant broke away from a peloton down to about forty men. “We knew there was going to be action, but we were not attentive enough on the first lap and we let Vansevenant get away”, said Benoît. “We got back on track afterwards”. A trio also got clear in a transition section, while David Gaudu waited for the Haemrich climb (1.1 km at 7.4%), seventeen kilometres from the finish, to launch a first offensive. He was caught at the top following after some favorites reacted, but he went for it again a few minutes later in the first climb of the circuit. Thanks to another strong acceleration, he made a difference on the rest of the peloton and quickly caught the chasing group. Together with Nicolas Prodhomme and Bart Lemmen, the Frenchman came back just twenty seconds from the leading duo, but the last two climbs of the route did not allow him to get any closer. “David was very strong, one of the strongest today,” assured Benoît. “He made a powerful attack when he needed to, because the breakaway was fifty seconds ahead and no one was able to close the gap. It’s just a shame that Vansevenant managed to get a head start, because he was also very strong, and it wasn’t possible to close him down.”
“It bodes well”, David Gaudu
On the final climb, Marc Hirschi and Mathieu van der Poel managed to bridge across the chasing group, so five men headed towards the finish in Diekrich for the podium places, but around ten others came back at the very last moment. David Gaudu still managed the last few hundred metres quite well to take fourth place in the stage – after Formolo was disqualified. “David was our main card today and the whole team worked for him,” added Benoît. “We really didn’t want to hesitate to make it hard, even if it meant sacrificing a lot of riders. In the end, the race was hard, but it was also very tactical. We are not rewarded at all for our efforts today, because we did not see it on TV, but we were the ones to make it hard”. “The result doesn’t reflect our race, but I’ve recovered well from the Vuelta, and it bodes well for Sunday and the World Championships next week,” said David. “Before all that though, there’s a time trial tomorrow, where I’ll give my 100% and the legs that will do the talking.” Fourth today, David Gaudu also climbed to tenth place overall and is 54 seconds behind the leader and nine seconds away from the podium. On Saturday, the hilly fifteen-kilometre time trial around Differdange should bring a clearer view on this Tour de Luxembourg.
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