The riders of the Tour of the Basque Country opened the 64th edition of the Spanish event on Monday one by one. In the 16.5-kilometer time trial around Vitoria-Gasteiz, Thibaud Gruel set the fastest time for the Groupama-FDJ cycling team, finishing 27th, 41 seconds behind the winner Maximilian Schachmann, and two ranks ahead of his teammate Romain Grégoire. On Tuesday, the riders will head to Lodosa for a likely bunch sprint.
Just seventy-eight metres of elevation gain were featured this Monday on the route of the Tour of the Basque Country’s opening time trial, which started from the city’s sports hall: the Fernando Buesa Arena. The finish was located after a 16.5-kilometer loop, and the route was relatively easy to define. “It was really a fast course, made for the time trial specialists”, explained Joseph Berlin-Sémon. “There were a few difficulties, which were more false flats, but you really had to tackle them with power to keep the speed afterwards. It was more or less exposed to the wind, which intensified during the afternoon. There were also gusts from time to time, and it was therefore difficult to control.” Brieuc Rolland launched the day for Groupama-FDJ at 2:24 p.m., followed by Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Clément Braz Afonso, and Romain Grégoire in the next hour or so. “We optimized the time trial 100% for Romain, Guillaume, and Thibaud, primarily with the goal of getting into the swing of things, but without overlooking the possibility of getting a nice result with Romain, or even Thibaud,” Joseph added. “For Guillaume, the goal was also to fully commit to this discipline he needs to work on. We didn’t set a specific goal because we knew it would be tough given the course, but we also know that Romain is capable of riding fast.”
“It’ll do me good for the rest of the race”, Romain Grégoire
The young French rider got on the starting ramp at 3:36 p.m., then reached the first intermediate check point just eight seconds behind Maximilian Schachmann, the eventual winner. However, his loss increased to forty-two seconds on the finish line. “I’m not super satisfied with the way I managed my effort,” said Romain. “I think I had a good start, but maybe too good given my form today. I really struggled in the final eight kilometres, which were completely flat, where you really had to constantly push the big gear. I really missed a notch to accelerate in the final. It was a bit hard towards the end, but it’ll do me good for the rest of the race.” “If we look at the overall result, we can be a bit disappointed with twenty-ninth place,” explained Joseph. “That said, he started fast, and that’s what he needed to do. Then, you had to be able to ride fast in the second part, and that’s where he missed a little something. His form today didn’t allow him to push harder.” About twenty minutes later, Thibaud Gruel did slightly better than his elder, by a few tenths of a second, and took twenty-seventh place. “It’s a very good performance for him at this level,” claimed Joseph. “He hadn’t done a time trial in the WorldTour for almost a year, and he was up there physically. For Romain and Guillaume, these efforts are nonetheless extremely beneficial for the upcoming stages.”A winner last year in the Basque Country, Romain Grégoire already had his sights set on the rest of the week. “It’s a really nice course on this Tour of the Basque Country, with three stages for punchers,” he concluded. “The field proves it, since all the best punchers are there. It’ll be a great race. Stages 3 and 5, and possibly stage 4, are really suitable for riders of my profile, and those are the ones I’m going to target”.