On Saturday, Romain Grégoire came close to taking his first victory of 2024. On the Faun-Ardèche Classic’s very hilly course, the young Frenchman stood up to some of the peloton’s best climbers. However, he missed a few centimetres in the final sprint, against Juan Ayuso, to take the win. He eventually placed second on the line, a year after his fifth place in the same race. On Sunday, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team will take part in the Drôme Classic without him.
A nice field was at the start of the twenty-fourth edition of the Faun-Ardèche Classic this Saturday. On the usual route around Guilherand-Granges, which David Gaudu triumphed on back in 2021, a three-man breakaway went quite early on: Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Pro Mobility), Antoine Hue (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Melvin Crommelinck (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur). The trio was able to enjoy a seven-minute lead before the peloton decided to start chasing. “Everyone was looking at everyone, so we took our responsibilities,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “Thibaud [Gruel] did a great job controlling the break, then a few teams came to pull with us. We wanted to give the guys the chance to be in the final to fight for the win.” Supporting Romain Grégoire and Valentin Madouas, the Groupama-FDJ however experienced a first major turning point around fifty kilometres from the finish, while the gap was gently reducing with the breakaway. On the downhill from Saint-Romain-de-Lerps, Lars van den Berg suffered a big crash, which forced him to leave the race by ambulance. “We also lost Valentin in Lars’ crash,” added Thierry. “The crash caused a split in the peloton and Valentin hesitated a bit. He found himself behind, and at the bottom of the descent, the gap was unfortunately too big.”
“Romain has nothing to be ashamed of”, Thierry Bricaud
At the first time on the finish line, the French champion was forty seconds behind the main pack which was ready to tackle the decisive climb of Saint-Romain-de-Lerps (6.3 km at 7.5%). “The guys did a good job, in particular Lorenzo, to place Romain at the bottom,” added Thierry. Then, the bunch exploded due to the fast pace, and Mattias Skjelmose launched the first attack twenty-five kilometers from the line. Juan Ayuso and Felix Gall were able to follow, just like a fighting Romain Grégoire. The Frenchman hung on to the trio’s wheels for some hundreds of metres, then had to let a small gap following another acceleration. “They were a bit stronger,” he agreed. “I managed to take the first hit when Skjelmose attacked, but when Ayuso went again, I knew I would really enter the red zone if I followed. So I kind of spread my effort and I knew that I could come back in the descent to make up the ten seconds that I was missing at the top. That’s what I did”. “Romain managed the end of the climb really well,” confirmed Thierry. “He really dug deep, but he has nothing to be ashamed of. In front of him, those were guys capable of top-10 finishes in the Grand Tours.”
“Of course, I’m a bit disappointed”, Romain Grégoire
Romain Grégoire therefore didn’t crack and kept his rivals within sight to finally get back on the descent leading to the day’s last climb, the Val d’Enfer (1.5 km at 10.7%). “In the Val d’Enfer, it was all in the head,” said the young man. “I fought as hard as I could to not lose the wheels.” In the end, no one managed to open a gap on this final climb, and the quartet headed towards the finish for a possible sprint. Felix Gall tried to anticipate shortly before the flamme rouge, but the final straight did decide the winner. Romain Grégoire approached it in second position behind Juan Ayuso. “I believed in my chances in the sprint,” he said. “It wasn’t bad, but Ayuso was just a bit stronger. It was close.” For a moment, the Groupama-FDJ rider was on the same line as the Spaniard, but he eventually had to settle for second. “Of course I’m a bit disappointed, because I really came close to doing something nice and to a great victory,” he claimed. “That said, I put things into perspective and try to take the positive out of it. I still fought with three of the best riders in the world in the climbs, so it’s pretty good.” “Romain didn’t make any mistakes,” said Thierry. “He’s knocking at the door, it’s really promising, and I’m sure that he’s going to finish it off in the next few weeks.”
The next race for the Frenchman will be the Trofeo Laigueglia on Wednesday, while the rest of the group, with the obvious exception of Lars van den Berg, will line up this Sunday on the Drôme Classic with the addition of Maxime Decomble. “Even if we’re six, we’ll still be ambitious,” announced Thierry. “Valentin will be revengeful, Kevin will be on a profile that suits him, and Rémy will be even better after his return to racing. The weather conditions won’t be great, and we’re going to have a real race.”
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