n what was quite a mad third stage from start to finish, Romain Grégoire took second place on the Tour of the Basque Country this Wednesday. Among the strongest favorites, the Groupama-FDJ’s puncher outsprinted a chasing group in Beasain. Initially declared the winner after Alex Aranburu was disqualified, the young man was ultimately reclassified to second place in a stage where he and his teammates delivered a superb collective performance.
As Romain Grégoire himself said at the start of Zarautz, the Tour of the Basque Country peloton was “getting into the real business” this Wednesday. More than 3,000 metres of elevation gain featured over the 156 kilometres to be covered, with some long, steady climbs and others much steeper and explosive. Due to the very hilly terrain, many breakaway attempts occurred at the start, around 1:30 p.m. Rudy Molard, Clément Braz Afonso and Brieuc Rolland especially tried to go for it in the first hour and a half covered at full speed, but at the bottom of the Santa Ageda climb (9 km at 6.7), after sixty kilometres, no group had yet managed to go clear. “We knew it was going to be fast at the start, but we didn’t think it would never ease off, and yet that’s what happened,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “It was impressive. There was action from the start, and there were riders all over the place.” After the day’s longest climb, the peloton exploded into several pieces, and a large selection took place just as the halfway point had been reached.
“It was very tactical,” Benoît Vaugrenard
It wasn’t until about the last sixty kilometres that a slight pause allowed some riders to attack. Among them: Rudy Molard, who slipped to the front with Marc Soler and Clément Berthet. “It was a good move by Rudy, as he took a lead before the penultimate climb,” Benoît said. “We were worried that Romain wouldn’t have many teammates left to help him after that climb. In the end, they all made it over, just because they were strong today.” After the steep climb of Gainza (2.3 km at 11%), with 37 kilometres to go, Clément Berthet found himself alone in the lead, while Romain Grégoire was in a group of about forty riders with Brieuc Rolland, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Clément Braz Afonso, and Rudy Molard, who had been caught. Around twenty kilometers from the finish line, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet entered a move that also included Florian Lipowitz, which led to a fierce fight between two groups of favourites until the foot of the final climb. “It was a bit tricky,” Benoît added. “We told Guillaume not to ride in front and we were careful about what was happening in the back. If no one had been riding, we would have been forced to do so because that was all for Romain today. Eventually, it all turned out ok”.
The two groups re-joined at the bottom of the final climb (1.4 km at 9.7%), where Romain Grégoire was dropped perfectly while Clément Berthet was caught. The French puncher then settled into the front of the peloton, followed the favorites’ initial accelerations, and launched two attacks himself as they approached the summit. “We had also told him to be careful with the small 500-metre hill just after, and he was,” added Benoît Vaugrenard. Barely ten men then headed towards the finish seven kilometers further down, while small splits occurred on the descent. “It was very tactical after that,” said Benoît. “We knew Romain had a good sprint, but we couldn’t let anyone get away.” Alex Aranburu and Joao Almeida were able to reach the final two flat kilometres with a lead of a few meters, then the Spaniard took a roundabout on the right side near the flamme rouge while the rest of the riders went around it on the left side. “I followed the wheels of Almeida and Lipowitz who were in front of me,” explained Romain. “We were about to catch him, but we went left and he suddenly gained three seconds. I think that moment was decisive.”
“I will recall the team strength,” Benoît Vaugrenard
The Spanish champion clearly pulled away from that moment on, taking advantage of a misunderstanding between his rivals to claim victory. Three seconds later, Romain Grégoire won the sprint for second place. After a few minutes, the young Frenchman was awarded the victory after Aranburu was disqualified, after not following the direction indicated by the marshals. Romain Grégoire therefore celebrated on the podium, but the decision was reviewed nearly two hours later, ultimately awarding the victory back to Aranburu. “We’re now going to try to win on the field,” concluded Benoît Vaugrenard. “From today’s stage, what I’ll recall is the team strength. It was truly excellent. To be up there with numbers, at this level, in a race like this: hats off to the boys! It was wonderful to see.” “I came to this Tour of the Basque Country to fight for stage wins,” said Romain. “It was a super tough day today, but I was there even on the longer climbs at the start of the stage. It will be hard tomorrow, but I’m going to fight for it, and I’ll fight again on Friday.”
