A whole new world opened up for Clément Braz Afonso over the winter: the WorldTour. By joining the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, the 25-year-old puncher reached the elite of cycling and has been enjoying it for several weeks now “with his eyes wide open”. He agreed to tell us about his experience throughout the year through a Road Diary. This is the first episode.
My first race with the Groupama-FDJ jersey was supposed to be the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, but my season actually started in Spain, in the Gran Premi Valencia. It was kind of unexpected because I stood in for Clément Russo, who was sick, but I was delighted to cap off the Calpe training camp with a race and to start the season! I was also excited to discover my teammates in racing mode. I think that a rider’s character on the bike can be very different from his personality in everyday life. I immediately wanted to do well, to give satisfaction to the team and to show my worth. This is clearly my leitmotif for the start of the season. Yvon Caër gave me a free role, but I just missed a little something at the top of the last climb to follow the group that went on to fight for fifth place. I cracked four hundred metres from the summit, I found myself alone, and then I was caught by another group. I was first from the team at the finish (22nd, editor’s note), but I didn’t really care about that. I was mostly disappointed to have missed the right move for so little, even if I was satisfied with the feelings.
“Racing with a WorldTour jersey is completely different”
I took a small rest before the Grand Prix La Marseillaise, where we lined up with the defending champion, Kevin. My mission was to support him, then it was up to him to “guide” me in the final and tell me if he wanted to try something on the Route des Crêtes. That’s what happened. Thanks to the other guys, we tackled the climb in front, and he told me: you can start pushing. I really enjoyed setting the pace at the bottom and giving my all for Kevin. When I finished my turn, halfway up the climb, there were riders everywhere.
I took thirty seconds to recover, then I tried to hold on at the back of the group to continue helping Kevin. We were kind of forced to take on the chase behind the five leaders, so I tried to maintain the gap as best I could on the Route des Crêtes’ plateau, on the descent, then at the beginning of the Col de la Gineste. I managed to surpass myself and it was exciting to have this role in the final. I think I allowed the peloton to not lose too much time, so it could have a chance of coming back in the final. Unfortunately Kevin didn’t manage to position himself in the sprint. The result was not so relevant, but I think we showed good team spirit in this race.
It was a solid ride for me as well, and that made me realize that I did reach another milestone. I did the same time as last year in the Route des Crêtes, but I produced 20-25 watts more because I led the peloton in the first few kilometres with the headwind. I also realized that racing with a WorldTour jersey or a continental team jersey is completely different. You are better positioned all the time; you don’t have to fight at the back of the peloton to find a place. All that makes you save energy, which allows you to be a little fresher in the final. I realized my transition in the WorldTour a little more thanks to this. Finally, although La Marseillaise is a great race, I have a bad memory of it with the terrible crash of one of my ex-teammates, Yaël Joalland, on the Route des Crêtes’ downhill in 2024. It turns out that two riders crashed at the same point this year and that one rider was seriously injured again. It’s unfortunate.
“I secretly wanted to go to Oman”
After La Marseillaise, I was confident about my shape. Normally, I was supposed to follow up with the Tour de la Provence and then O Gran Camiño, but I also knew that I was the first substitute for the Tour of Oman. On a side note, I was asked at the beginning of January if I had a passport, because it was also necessary in order to be registered as a substitute. However, my passport had expired since 2020. Because of my studies, I haven’t really travelled outside of Europe since then, and I hadn’t really had the need to renew it. In this case, it could have done me wrong. The team even changed the first substitute for a bit just in case… At first, I thought about applying for a one-year emergency passport, but the Emirates’ countries don’t accept them. So I had to make a classic application, supported by a letter from the team. I was then told that it would take about two weeks. I did it before leaving for the January training camp, and three days later, I got a message informing me that it was ready. I was amazed with how fast it went.
Actually, since the interviews in Calpe in December, I secretly wanted to go to Oman. I would also like to take advantage of this first year to discover races abroad because I did a lot of races in France during my years as a continental rider. Then, the day after La Marseillaise, my coach called me and told me that I could prepare to leave because there were sick riders. I still had a little smile on my face, even if I was disappointed for Oscar Nilsson-Julien who would probably have wanted to experience that as well. In any case, I was super happy to go there, not only to be with David who was aiming for a big result, but also to learn to race with other riders on the team. And then, even if it’s not a holiday, it was also an opportunity to discover a new culture, a new country, and I’m really fond of that. The only issue is that we had to urgently get back my bikes that were in the south of France. It was a bit of a logistical mess, but everything went well. I left on Tuesday at noon to go to Paris, then to fly to Oman. Everything went very fast.
“I enjoyed the show with my own eyes”
In Oman, I discovered a coast in full expansion with buildings popping up everywhere. There is no proper city centre or “old city” there. Everything is new, recent, and they are fond of great architectural achievements such as palaces, museums… But what I found most beautiful in the East of the country, where we were, was this impressive mountain range with peaks over 3000 metres high! These are mountains without a single tree. It’s just rock. I think there are canyons too. Some might have thought that Oman was just sand, but it isn’t! There’s also a lot of rock. I would have also been delighted to discover the south of the country. It rains there for three months of the year non-stop. There are oases, it’s much greener and more tropical. Actually, a class 2 race takes place there at the end of the year, the Tour of Salalah. Otherwise, there are very few small roads there. It’s almost only “highways”. It’s quite impressive. Our first ride was on a three-lane road with trucks brushing past us. During the race too, we mostly rode on very large roads.
We knew that David was in good shape when we arrived in Oman. He told us so himself. I got there a bit discreetly. I’m new, I wasn’t planned on this race, but I wanted to do well. I was just a little afraid of the heat. The other guys had had an acclimatization process at home to cope with it better. I hadn’t, of course. I suffered a little in the Muscat Classic because of that. I wasn’t at the level I expected, but I knew that I only needed one day to get my legs going. As soon as the Tour of Oman started, we were focused, and we knew that David could do well in the general classification.
On stage 3, which he won, I really had a blast of a day. We had a plan to set him up as best as possible, and everyone did their part of the work. Personally, I did my turn up until 1200 metres, I dropped back, then David attacked with one kilometre to go, and I enjoyed the show with my own eyes. It was quite incredible. I saw his attacks live because I wasn’t very far behind. I could see that the others were suffering because of him. On the radio, I told him, “Come on David, they’re cracking, keep going, keep going!” I tried to be his eyes from the back. I witnessed his first two attacks, then I lost sight of him.
“Seeing a teammate win makes me thrilled”
For 700 meters I was in the dark and 200 metres from the line, I saw him in the distance, lying against the barrier, his fist in the air, and I started to burst out in joy. I joined him, we high-fived, we celebrated. These are pretty incredible moments when you can share a teammate’s victory, especially when you’re involved in this victory. It’s rewarding, and it was so for everyone that day, because everyone had done its part. Even though I’m 25 years old, I’m still young in cycling. I’ve experienced a few moments like these, but it’s absolutely not the norm for me. Seeing a teammate win makes me thrilled. I really experience his joy vicariously. By the way, a new role is opening up for me, because for the last four years, I was the one who was supposed to be up there on the summit finishes. I was the one who had to give my all until the finish. In Oman, I rode with a free mind. I was just asked to launch David as best I could, and nobody cared about my own result.
I think I managed to fit in the squad. You integrate a way during the pre-season training camps but integrating during the race isn’t bad either! By the way, during the final debriefing, Tom [Donnenwirth] and I thanked the other guys because we really felt welcomed into the team. It was important for us to say it. Thierry Bricaud also said something that struck me: “you may be neo-pros, but we don’t consider you as such, but as riders in your own right with your qualities. There is no distinction”. Overall, I think I lived up to my expectations and I was satisfied with the work I did for David and my teammates. I’m just a little disappointed with how the last stage went. I crashed at the bottom of Green Mountain with Rudy, my chain got stuck, and by the time I changed bikes, it was over… I would have liked to support David as far as possible and see what I could have done on that climb.
“If I get my chance, I’ll take it”
O Gran Camino is my next race. There are only three WorldTour teams at the start, but it doesn’t mean it will be easy. I might have a slightly freer role, but we also have Rémy Rochas, coming from the Tour of the Algarve. If he is in great shape and that I have to work for him, I will do it with pleasure as I did with David. If I get my chance, I will take it too. It is also something that I want to try to maintain. In Oman, I was asked to do the job and to let go, but I know that there might be a moment in the season where I will be asked to go and get a result. I try to keep that in mind and push my effort to the line when I can. In some races, it is interesting to let go for the recovery, but sometimes, it can also be worth continuing to push until the line. After O Gran Camino, I will have two weeks at home, then the program will be quite generous with the Volta a Catalunya and then the Tour of the Basque Country. My first two WorldTour races. It’s going to be intense. We’ll talk about it in the next episode.