Two races within one took place in the final to Mende, after the well-known Côte de la Croix Neuve, on Saturday. Up front, Thibaut Pinot went for third place in the breakaway, after he battled for a long time to get in there with Stefan Küng and some twenty other riders. The Frenchman is already looking forward to the Pyrenees, just like David Gaudu who, among the favourites, was only beaten by the yellow jersey and his runner-up. The young man lost one rank to general because of breakaway but remains well in the mix.
“I couldn’t climb any faster”, Thibaut Pinot
Everyone expected a fierce fight from Saint-Etienne this Saturday in a fourteenth stage made for the breakaway. On the other hand, everyone probably did not expect to see Tadej Pogacar attack from the first categorized climb of the day, after ten kilometres. The peloton was split into pieces from the start, but the Groupama-FDJ cycling team was still constantly aggressive to go up the road. After about forty kilometres of uninterrupted battle over quite hilly terrain, the break eventually went in the Côte de Châtaignier. “It was an extremely hard start, à bloc”, said Philippe Mauduit. “After an hour of racing or so, Stefan and Thibaut joined a group of around twenty at a time when everyone needed to catch his breath”. Within this leading group, the French climber and the Swiss time trial found the company of strong riders such as Rigoberto Uran, Lennard Kämna, Daniel Felipe Martinez, Marc Soler, Jakob Fuglsang and many others. “I was in the strongest breakaway of the Tour”, smiled Thibaut. “From there, I knew it was going to be difficult to get to the bottom of the last climb all together”. Although the breakaway really took off and enjoyed a lead of more than fourteen minutes at some point, Thibaut Pinot’s thoughts came true more than fifty kilometres from the finish when the attacks began. “The other teams had no interest in bringing me to the bottom, it was quite tactical”, said Thibaut. “They let Stefan do the work and wouldn’t bring me back. It is understandable. It’s cycling, and you have to deal with it.”
A quartet was then able to break away and included Luis Leon Sanchez, Michael Matthews, Andreas Kron and Felix Grossschartner. Stefan Küng then took charge of the chase to limit the gap as best as possible. “They attacked from very far away. Stefan was forced to sacrifice himself early in order to maintain contact and get to the bottom of the final climb not too far from the front”, explained Philippe. “Stefan limited our losses well, but it was still difficult”, confessed Thibaut. “They really tired my legs in this part of the race. It was hard to control and Bora-hansgrohe raced well.” In the Côte de la Fage, thirty kilometres from the line, the chasing group lost several riders and remained around thirty seconds behind the leading men. The gap was about the same at the end of a long descent, when starting the hard Côte de la Croix-Neuve (3 km at 10%). Michael Matthews dropped his escape companions, Alberto Bettiol went to join him, but Thibaut Pinot was not able to follow. “I was not feeling great at the bottom”, said the Frenchman. “I tried to pace myself because my legs were already full of toxins. I made my effort towards the summit with what I had left and couldn’t climb any faster. At the bottom, I wouldn’t even have thought that I could do what I did.” In the last kilometre of the climb, Thibaut Pinot dropped the rest of the fugitives but could not make back thirty seconds on Matthews, a winner at the end, and Bettiol. On the line, he had to settle for a frustrating third place.
“It gives me motivation and confidence”, David Gaudu
“I’m very disappointed, but it was difficult to manage today,” he said. “I don’t have much to regret. I didn’t have great legs, so I tried with what I had. I’m still missing a bit of form, but it’s positive nevertheless. I know I’m not at my best looking at my power data but I’m fighting. I’m waiting for the Pyrenees, and I think it will be even better there. It will be difficult to enter the breakaways on the flat, but we will try again”. Almost twelve minutes later, his young teammate David Gaudu finished third among the favourites after a strong finish in the climb. “I can only be satisfied”, said David. “Among the favourites, only the two strongest were in front of me. The terrain suited me, and I was really revengeful after the Alpe d’Huez. Today, I gave it my all and went full gas. We see what the result is. It gives me motivation and confidence. I can’t wait to be in the Pyrenees. We will continue this way. We see that in the back, even without Stefan or Thibaut as captains, the team is still up there and does huge work all day. We were still three in the GC group at the bottom of the last climb. It’s just incredible. Many thanks to the team!” “At the back, we tried to control the day as best as possible and stay in contact with the best”, concluded Philippe. “David tried to take his own pace at the bottom of the climb but quickly understood that he had to give everything. That’s what he did. There are no gaps on the line in the end, but it was important for him to do that. I think he has reassured himself for the upcoming stages”.
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