On the slopes of Puerto de Ancares, David Gaudu made a great comeback this Friday, both in the climb itself and in the Vuelta’s GC. Thanks to a very well-controlled effort, the French climber caught and dropped several of his direct rivals in the closing kilometres and took advantage of it to climb to ninth place overall after stage 13. The second week of racing will end with another two mountain stages this weekend.
And yet another summit finish on the menu! This Friday, it was towards Puerto de Ancares that the Vuelta peloton headed in what was a steep finish for stage 13. A 7.5-kilometre climb with an average slope of 9% was indeed to make the difference after 176 kilometres. Also, two races within one took shape quite early on. It appeared obvious that the breakaway would fight for the stage victory, and it actually formed much more quickly than in previous days. The Groupama-FDJ cycling team did not take part in it this time. “It was in line with our strategy,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “Today’s finish suited Rémy or David, but Rémy doesn’t feel well, and David cannot join the break. What’s more, tomorrow’s stage suits us well. We have to manage our energy and be smart.” While the breakaway gained a fifteen-minute lead, the entire team then focused on protecting David Gaudu until the last forty hilly kilometres. “It was a pretty calm day until the foot of the final climb, then we knew that everyone wanted to be positioned, which is normal,” added Thierry. “The guys did a really good job, especially Stefan and Papach.” “I felt good all day, and I knew that it was going to come down to the final climb with the GC favorites,” said David. “I was well positioned on the last climbs by Sven and Quentin, and our approach to the last one was good too.”
“David handled it like a boss,” Thierry Bricaud
While Michael Woods flew away to victory at the front of the race, David Gaudu found himself in the wheel of his rivals on the first slopes of the Puerto de Ancares. “They went extremely fast at the bottom; too fast to keep this pace all the way to the top,” explained David. “I then did what I’m used to do, which is manage my effort, take my own pace to catch the competitors one after the other.” Although he was distanced at the same time as the red jersey Ben O’Connor, the Breton gradually gained ground on the other favorites. “On a climb like today, it paid off, and I was able to give another push as I usually do halfway up the climb, to catch Carapaz, then Kuss, Lipowitz and finally the Skjelmose-Rodriguez duo,” explained David. While Primoz Roglic got away at the front, the Frenchman found himself fighting with all the main outsiders, and only three of them beat him on the line, by a handful of seconds: Landa, Skjelmose and Rodriguez. “David handled it like a boss,” greeted Thierry. “He still lacks a bit of confidence, but above all he knows himself very well and he was able to manage his climb as he needed to. The most important thing is that he did it alongside the big guys. He keeps building confidence, for himself and his teammates, and he keeps the momentum of his start to the Vuelta going. It’s a great day and that will count for the rest of the race.”
Twenty-first on the line, David Gaudu also took his place back in the top 10 overall, in ninth position, 4’44 behind Ben O’Connor, but just some thirty seconds behind sixth place. “It’s a good day,” David said. “There are still five days to make gaps between the leaders and we’ll see where that takes us. We don’t forget that the goal is also to win a stage. Maybe tomorrow with the breakaway.” “Tomorrow is a great opportunity for Stefan and Papach,” Thierry added. “They will need to be in the breakaway, which won’t be easy because everyone will want to be there. We will race alongside them at the start to give them a chance to go and win the stage. In terms of GC, not much should happen. We will just have to be focused so as not to get caught out. The fireworks should come on Sunday among the favourites”.
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