There surely was some action on Sunday in the closing stage of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, but mostly in the first part of the race. The peloton was eventually quite big before the final climb towards Vence, not hard enough to allow a proper GC fight. A reduced bunch sprint concluded the day, Quentin Pacher took ninth position, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet secured his sixth place overall.
Like the day before, the profile was quite hilly this Sunday in the Alpes-Maritimes, but this time around, the major climbs featured in the first sixty kilometres. An explosive start was therefore expected, and also necessary to try to turn the GC around. “The stage got off to a flying start,” said Yvon Caër. “There were riders everywhere in the Col d’Èze, then the pace remained high until the second fight in the Col de Châteauneuf de Contes. At the top, there weren’t many riders left, especially because we set a big pace at the bottom”. Around fifteen riders managed to get clear at some point, before the peloton finally got back together on the descent. “The leader, Christian Scaroni, was very strong and Astana was never in trouble,” added Yvon. “If the climbs had been a bit later in the stage, it would have been a completely different story”. So this wasn’t the case on Sunday, with a more rolling second half of the race. “There was still a big fight for almost the entire stage, because the breakaway put on a big show,” specified Yvon. “It was a fast day”.
“We can’t have any regrets,” Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet
After they hit the front at km 50, Harry Sweeny and Louis Barré got a maximum lead of two minutes on the peloton, which gradually came back approaching Vence and the final climb of la Sine (3.6 km at 5.3%), which was followed by three flat kilometers to the finish. Groupama-FDJ repositioned perfectly before this last highlight in the wake of Enzo Paleni, then Kevin Geniets took a big pull. “Six kilometres from the finish, there was a small steep section followed by a long false flat of two kilometres, and the goal was for Guillaume to be positioned to follow the best,” explained Yvon. “When four of them went away, he missed a little something, and it was a bit too punchy. Quentin followed what was left of the peloton and it finally got back together for a thirty-man sprint like last year.” On the attack shortly before, Santiago Buitrago and Christian Scaroni were caught the final straight, and Dorian Godon finally won the stage. “Quentin had some regrets because this finish suits him but he said he didn’t manage his sprint well,” added Yvon. “He was on the right wheel, but he spent too much energy to get there, then he was overtaken.”
The French puncher took ninth place on the line, while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet grabbed 12th and secured his sixth place overall. “We wanted to have an impact on the race, and we did in the climb of Châteauneuf, so I think we can’t have any regrets,” said the newcomer. “For me it was also a weekend of integration within the team in racing mode. The result is not there, I’m a bit disappointed I couldn’t be a bit stronger to finish it off, but I think we can be satisfied with the way we raced today. I want to thank the teammates and the staff for the integration. “What I take from this weekend is that Guillaume is in very good condition,” concluded Yvon. “It was his first race with us, and we were able to improve things over the weekend. Today, it was perfect in terms of investment and commitment from the teammates, and Guillaume is at the level he should be at.”
