It was with their faces – and their entire bodies – covered in mud that the riders completed Paris-Tours this Sunday, in a rainy 2024 edition that made the vineyard sectors even harder than usual. In these circumstances, Groupama-FDJ still proved active in the last seventy kilometers but was not rewarded with a top result at the finish. In the sprint, Lewis Askey took twelfth place, twenty seconds behind the duo who fought for victory, which went to Christophe Laporte.
Apart from the ten vineyard sectors and the eight hills on the final’s program, well known to the riders, an additional difficulty showed up this Sunday for the 118th edition of Paris-Tours: the rain. It was already present at the start, while a four-man break quickly established, but it intensified shortly after entering the second half of the race, as they approached the first day’s sectors. “It was the first time we raced Paris-Tours in these conditions since the gravel sectors were introduced,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “The paths were very wet, and the dirt was sticky and slow. It was not the most pleasant to ride on, but it made for a great Paris-Tours.” All the more so since the race opened up early. “In the first hills, even before the paths, Mads Pedersen attacked and from there on, the pace was always high,” added Frédéric. While the Dane joined the breakaway, and took a minute lead, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was active at the head of the peloton. “The race was on, and given the state of the sectors, it was better to be one step ahead,” added Frédéric. “The guys were free to hit the front whenever they could and whenever they felt the opportunity to go with a small group. We had to be active and not wait for the others to make it hard.”
“We missed that little something”, Frédéric Guesdon
Lewis Askey accelerated a few times in the first sectors, while the peloton gradually lost riders from the back. Unfortunately, Groupama-FDJ also paid the price. “We lost Paul after a crash, and Olivier after a second puncture,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “It wasn’t ideal.” Lewis Askey and Kevin Geniets nevertheless continued to join the moves, and the team’s five remaining riders were still in the peloton thirty kilometres from the finish. A few moments later, Christophe Laporte and Mathias Vacek broke away on the seventh vineyard path, and quickly caught and dropped Pedersen in the front. “We can’t say it really came down to the legs at that point, but they were strong enough afterwards to stay away,” explained Frédéric. “They never really got a big gap, but that was enough because behind it was riding in fits and starts.” Everything then came down to a chase behind the leading duo. “We then tried to make it hard a bit so that Valentin could give it a go, but we couldn’t make the difference,” continued Frédéric. The former French champion nevertheless put on a strong attack on the côte de la vallée Chartier twenty-two kilometres from the finish. Kevin Geniets kept on pushing, the gap was reduced to fifteen seconds, but no one could continue the effort. The gap of the leading duo increased to thirty seconds, and a peloton of around thirty riders got together behind them. The last climb, eleven kilometres from the finish, did not make any big changes. “In the final, we wanted to go with Clément, but unfortunately he punctured ten kilometres from the finish”, said Frédéric. Twenty seconds behind Laporte and Vacek, who came in that order on the line, Lewis Askey then joined the sprint for third place. The Briton eventually finished just outside the top-10 (12th). “We were up there as a team, but we missed that little something to make the difference”, said Frédéric. “The end of the race also didn’t go our way with this puncture. The result is not excellent, but we still made an impact on the race, we proved active with Lewis, Kevin, and Valentin in particular. We proved quite successful on Paris-Tours the last three years, it didn’t work out this time, but we’ll be back!” Olivier Le Gac, Paul Penhoët, Lewis Askey and Clément Russo also ended their season on Sunday, while Kevin Geniets and Valentin Madouas will do so in Italy next week, as will Eddy Le Huitouze on the Chrono des Nation
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