The Critérium du Dauphiné time trial was to deliver a first verdict on Wednesday. After 34,4 kilometres, it proved quite harsh for David Gaudu. Although he made a decent start, the Frenchman couldn’t keep up the pace throughout the course and eventually lost almost four minutes to the winner and new leader Remco Evenepoel. Romain Grégoire finished almost three minutes down and gave his white jersey away. On to the second half of the race.
The first gaps between the GC favourites of the Critérium Dauphiné were to occur this Wednesday, between Saint-Germain-Laval and Neulise, on the time trial that served as the fourth stage. The terrain was also ideal to make differences since 34.4 kilometres were on the menu, with almost 450 meters of elevation gain. “It was a very difficult course,” said the team’s coach, Julien Pinot. “The first part was quite flat. However, the second part included two long, slightly uphill sections, quite irregular, where you had to push hard constantly.” David Gaudu and Romain Grégoire started at 3:55 p.m. and 4:12 p.m. respectively and rode quite well in the first portion of the race. They lost “only” 49 and 45 seconds at the first intermediate (km 9.5) to the world champion Remco Evenepoel, the eventual winner.
“If you don’t feel very good, you pay the high price”, Benoît Vaugrenard
Unfortunately, the second part of the course didn’t go so well for both men, particularly for the Breton who ultimately lost 4’07 on the line to the Belgian, which put him in 54th place. “David is not a time specialist, and on top of that, he wasn’t particularly having a super day,” Benoît explained. “He simply paid for it. On this kind of time trial, you need to have a great day just to limit the losses with the best, so if you don’t feel very good, you obviously pay the high price. That’s what happened to David. We realized that he was struggling in the final, he couldn’t accelerate on the uphill sections. The time trial doesn’t lie, the day’s legs do the talking, and he is extremely disappointed.” Romain Grégoire took 35th place, 3’02 behind Evenepoel. “Romain is more at ease on short time trials for punchers,” added Benoît. “That said, he finished thirty-fifth, he was not way behind. It will be useful for the future.”
After stage 4, the young man sits in 23rd position overall, while David Gaudu is 38th. “We are not going to draw out an assessment today, we will do it on Sunday,” Benoît clarified. “Tomorrow, it should be a sprint, but we never know. We’ll have to be careful at the start. Then, we will have three very difficult days, in the high mountains, with very difficult climbs. The weekend won’t lie either”.
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