On the white paths leading to Santiago de Compostela, the end of the riders’ “pilgrimage” on O Gran Camiño, Clément Braz Afonso and Rémy Rochas gave it one last shot this Sunday. The youngest joined the day’s breakaway and led the race until twenty-five kilometres from the finish, before his teammate took over following an attack from the peloton. Yet, he was also caught with twelve kilometres to go. A small group sprint concluded the race, Maxime Decomble took sixteenth place and gained one spot in the general classification (12th).
One hundred and sixty kilometres, and a special feature. This was the menu for the final stage of O Gran Camiño this Sunday. The big loop around Santiago de Compostela, to be covered twice, included not only a fairly steady climb (5km at 5%), but also three “gravel” paths a few kilometres from the finish line. Given the gaps in the general classification, an open race could be expected, and Clément Braz Afonso immediately wanted to take part in it as he made a few attempts at the start. After fifteen kilometres, he managed to escape with eight other riders. “We could have waited for the sprint like some others, but what could we have hoped for?”, asked Philippe Mauduit. “We knew that we had no chance in these circumstances and that we had to try something else.” “The aim was to take the breakaway, hoping that it would go far,” added Clément. “We were in a position to try things because we were not very well placed overall. I managed to take the breakaway, but we didn’t work very well together.” The break actually never got a large lead. “There wasn’t much hope, also because a rider was just two minutes off in the general classification,” said Philippe.
“The important thing was the attitude,” Philippe Mauduit
After completing the first lap of the final circuit, the leading group had just a one-minute lead, while fifty kilometres were left to be covered. The peloton paced up again approaching the day’s final big climb, where Clément Braz Afonso put up a good fight, before seeing his teammate Rémy Rochas come from behind. The pocket climber then broke away with a man from the Caja Rural, then dropped him as he approached the summit, while creating a forty-five second gap over the peloton. “Unfortunately for him, no one was able to follow him, or no one wanted to go at that point,” explained Philippe. In the following, descending section the peloton got really close to Rémy Rochas, and finally caught him just before the white roads. “If there were 3-4 riders with him, that could have changed the situation, because we were entering a phase of the race where there were fewer teammates to pull, but that’s how it is,” Philippe said. The efforts of the Groupama-FDJ men were therefore in vain, since a group of around twenty men fought for the win in a sprint. Magnus Cort then took victory.
“We can’t complain about the boys’ attitude,” Philippe said. “They tried to be opportunistic and that is what we had planned this morning. We gave it our best shot. There was no success but no surprise either. The important thing was the attitude, especially after a tough day like yesterday. They showed courage, and that is what we expect of them.” At the finish, Maxime Decomble took sixteenth place, and climbed to twelfth place in the final general classification. “The riders showed fighting spirit this week,” Philippe concluded. “I only have one regret, Saturday’s stage, where we weren’t able to do what we had planned, but that’s also sport. We had the youngest team in this race, with an average age of 22. Other teams were closer to thirty. It’s clearly not the same experience, but the boys did well nevertheless.” “It’s not really the result we came for because we were hoping for a top 5 overall, but we missed out on the queen stage and that defined the rest,” Clément said. “There are still positive things to take away from this week. We made good efforts, we could integrate the youngsters from La Conti and Max [Decomble] achieved some great performances.”
