The tricolour jersey temporarily leaves the Groupama-FDJ organization. On Sunday, Valentin Madouas and his teammates did everything they could to keep it within the team, but the Breton just like Romain Grégoire could not make the difference in the last laps of the circuit, after also being trapped tactically. The outgoing French champion took sixth place, his young teammate eighth, while Paul Lapeira claimed the title.
A year after a fabulous display in the North of France, Groupama-FDJ put the French champion title back on the line this Sunday, in Normandy. Valentin Madouas therefore wore a traditional outfit at the start from Avranches, shortly after 10:30 a.m. At his side, sixteen riders, “Conti” and WorldTour combined. Ahead of them, 240 kilometres and 3600 metres of elevation gain to cover through the bumpy circuit of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, 16 kilometers long and including the climbs of les vallées (800m at 8%), of la Pigeonnière (500m at 5%) and of les Biards (700m at 6%). It was however before getting to the circuit that the day’s breakaway started to form, first with ten riders, then with seven additional competitors including Olivier Le Gac. The Frenchman eventually reached the head of the race in the second lap, after around fifty kilometres. “It was initially quite an easy race with Decathlon-AG2R controlling since they were the favourites,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. The gap between the breakaway and the peloton therefore rarely exceeded three minutes, and it was even reduced to two minutes with five laps to go, meaning 82 kilometres from the finish.
“We shouldn’t have missed a move such as this one”, Romain Grégoire
On this same lap, the race properly opened up. The peloton increased its pace hugely, and the first attacks occurred about seventy kilometres from the line. Quentin Pacher especially followed some moves, while the pack reduced drastically. Attempts kept on going for around ten kilometres, until a handful of men managed to open a breach. A turning point for Groupama-FDJ, then absent in the lead. “We missed our chance when the move with Lapeira went,” said Benoît. “We found ourselves a step behind, and then it was very difficult because the front group was strong and got along well. We put men to ride but it was hard to close the gap.” “We shouldn’t have missed a move such as this one, with a rider like Lapeira,” regretted Romain. “We had to be there. It put us in difficulty for the entire end of the race. We could have reacted differently, but in the heat of the moment, during the race, it’s always difficult. We followed a lot of moves, unfortunately not this one.”
A solid leading group of seven men then established itself and took advantage of some hesitation in the peloton to get a minute-lead two laps from the finish, meaning with 33 kilometres to go. Already involved in the chase through Cyril Barthe or Brieuc Rolland, Groupama-FDJ went full gas on the côte des vallées, 28 kilometres from the finish. After yet another pull from Quentin Pacher, Romain Grégoire made a lightning attack that few riders were able to follow immediately. A few men came back, but the selection was made again a few minutes later. Eight men eventually found themselves in chase, including the young Frenchman, Valentin Madouas and Rudy Molard, who had to take on most of the work. The gap stabilized at thirty seconds on the remaining leading trio at the start of the last lap, and the main cards of Groupama-FDJ did not get any freedom. “It was tactical, and we knew it would be,” said Valentin. “They were very strong up front, and behind there was a bit of looking at each other. Benoît Cosnefroy was also very strong, and if he hadn’t been there, we would have fought for the win. When you have 2-3 Decathlon-AG2R riders in the wheel, you have to try to surprise them in order to drop them, but that wasn’t possible.”
“We knew that we didn’t have much room for manoeuvre”, Benoît Vaugrenard
Despite multiple attacks in the last lap, Valentin Madouas and Romain Grégoire were unable to deceive their rivals’ vigilance, and the hopes of victory and podium were definitively gone in the last five kilometres. A few men then bridged across from the back, and while Paul Lapeira took the title, Grégoire and Madouas crossed the line in sixth and eighth positions respectively. “We shouldn’t have missed the right move and we did,” said Valentin. “We didn’t miss much, but when you’re missing riders like David Gaudu or Paul Penhoët, it surely has an impact. It’s hard to let go of the jersey, especially like this.” “It’s not at all what we came for,” said Benoît. “We knew that we didn’t have a lot of room for manoeuvre, that we had to run extremely smart, and the missed move hurt us a lot.” Romain Grégoire concluded: “The day’s assessment is negative. More than in any other race, we come for victory and only for victory in a championship. We missed it today. The legs were there, but it was not for the win. It is very frustrating”.
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