Perseverance has paid off. After many unsuccessful attempts since joining the WorldTour team last season, Sam Watson finally took a weight off his shoulders. On Friday, in the closing stage of the Tour de Wallonie, the young Briton displayed his strength on the final cobbled climb of Thuin to claim his first pro victory. Perfectly positioned by Lewis Askey at the bottom, he claimed victory a few metres ahead of the GC favourites and brought the twelfth success of the season to the Groupama-FDJ cycling team. Rudy Molard kept his ninth place overall, after a solid week concluded in the most beautiful way.
There were only 192 kilometres left to complete the 2024 Tour de Wallonie this Friday. In Thuin, at the end of stage 5, Groupama-FDJ squad had only one goal: winning. Initially, they also gave it a go through the day’s breakaway, like many other teams. Therefore, seventeen riders went clear before even reaching the Oude Kwaremont, at km30. “If a large move went, it was planned that Thibaud would be present, and he made it into this move,” William Green introduced. “A rider was only one minute down on GC, so Tudor really had to chase all day. For us, it was a very really nice because we didn’t have to chase.” Although the breakaway was unable to gain a very big advantage, it still approached the finishing circuit in Thuin, around thirty kilometres from the finish, with a two-minute lead. But from then on, the collaboration stopped, and attacks and counterattacks followed. In the first time up Thuin’s climb (400m at 7%), Thibaud Gruel managed to get away with four men, but it didn’t last long. “Thibaud was very active, he was in the first move, unfortunately he missed the second, but that still took some pressure off the team,” added William. “He has improved during the week, and he was really strong today. We are very satisfied with his performance.”
“We knew how much power Sam had”, William Green
The former rider from “La Conti”, who found himself with two men thirty seconds behind a leading quartet for some time, was eventually caught by the bunch less than ten kilometres from the finish. Within the pack, his teammates took over. “We had two options for the final”, explained William. “First, Sam had to attack to provoke other teams to chase on the short flat section at the top of the pavé climb. If it came back, we had to lead out Paul to sprint. But after his attack yesterday, we knew how much power Sam had, and that it was going to be difficult to catch him”. So, it was necessary to approach this final climb of Thuin in the best possible way. “The idea was for Cyril to lead out on the descent until the final climb, but he had to work earlier”, added William. “We adapted with Lewis into the descent, and we kept the same plan, which was to launch Sam from the bottom.” “In the end, I gave everything for Sam,” Lewis said. “I positioned him on the descent, and when I saw that we were going to catch the last riders of the breakaway just after the tight corner, I told Sam to sprint from the bottom. After that, it was almost impossible for those who were not positioned to come back.”
“It’s crazy”, Sam Watson
The two Britons were therefore the first riders in the peloton to catch the breakaway, and Sam Watson did go straight away. “The plan was to be at the front for the last climb, and all I had to do was go full gas,” he said. “I have to say that the team, and especially Lewis in the end, did the job to perfection. All I had to do was to focus on going full gas.” That’s what he did, and immediately opened a gap of a few metres on the cobbled climb. Thanks to a powerful effort, the 22-year-old Englishman always kept a small margin on his closest chasers, and once the hardest part was done, he definitely broke away from the rest of the peloton, which was split apart. On the final stretch to the line, Sam Watson gave his last bits of energy, and then had the chance to enjoy a well-deserved victory. “It’s crazy,” he said a few moments later. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this victory, I’ve often come close, so I’m extremely happy. Even more so with the way I did it, going solo to the line. I felt really good all week and being able to follow the attack yesterday gave me a lot of confidence. I have to say thanks to Jussi and William for giving me the confidence and the chance to go for today. I’m just happy I could pull it off.”
After a very active week, with two podium places for Paul Penhoët, things finally clicked for Sam Watson and his teammates. “It’s really nice to see our work finally rewarded,” said Lewis. “Everything went as planned and everyone couldn’t be any more pleased, especially after a difficult period, and even more so with a group that has raced together a lot,” concluded William. “We knew that Sam had the physical attributes to win in a final like this. Last night, we sat down together, and we told him: this stage is for you, this is what you can do. He went all-in for it, and we are really very pleased. Now we have to keep this momentum going because we have some nice races ahead of us.” While Rudy Molard finished the race in ninth position overall, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team achieved its twelfth victory of the season.
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