On the fifth and final stage of the Renewi Tour, Valentin Madouas brought back some memories from the Ronde. In a day for the Classics riders around the iconic “Muur”, which had to be covered three times before the finish, the former French champion showed all his qualities. After a lot of efforts, he notably made a decisive move twelve kilometres from the finish to get back to the leading group. Although he was then unable to follow the wheel of Tim Wellens, winner of the overall, and Arnaud De Lie, winner of the stage, he confirmed that he was indeed one of the strongest by taking third place on the cobblestones of Geraardsbergen. Overall, he took fourteenth place.
A small Tour of Flanders therefore awaited the Renewi Tour riders on Sunday. From Menen to Geraardsbergen, over a bit more than 200 kilometres, some twenty climbs, most of them cobbled, featured on the course. The riders also had to tackle the Muur-Bosberg sequence three times in the second part of the race, before a finish on the first slopes of this same “Muur”. The first sixty kilometres were, however, very flat, and the breakaway took advantage of it to go with about twenty men. “It didn’t start very well for us because we wanted to go into the breakaway, and we missed it,” said Frédéric Guesdon. “We then let the others control, and with the succession of climbs, the pace gradually increased, and the leading men never had more than two minutes. It was also hot today in Belgium, and that had an impact on the race, which was already expected to be really difficult. We knew that Valentin was our best card, and we did everything to put him in the best position to perform.”
“I didn’t manage to get a head start”, Valentin Madouas
While the breakaway came over the first “Muur” with a one-minute advantage, the gap was reduced considerably on the second time up the climb, where a few accelerations already split the peloton. Careful and in position, Valentin Madouas had no trouble following the strong men, and still had Eddy Le Huitouze, Paul Penhoët, Olivier Le Gac and Fabian Lienhard alongside him before heading for the third and final complete ascent of the Muur. “The goal was to try to win the stage, which would have led us to a good overall ranking,” said Valentin. “The goal was to try to get a head start on the leaders, but I didn’t succeed. The boys did a great job to position me as well as possible, but I found myself a bit far behind at the bottom of the last time on the Muur, and from there, I found myself chasing for the whole finale.” When the key moment came, twenty-five kilometres from the finish, he had to make a really strong effort to move back up the peloton and enter a chasing group of about twenty men, behind Tim Wellens and Arnaud De Lie who went away in the Muur. Several attacks then occurred within this group to get back to the front, four riders managed to bridge across, and Valentin Madouas went all-in in Onkerzeleberg, twelve kilometres from the finish.
“Valentin was very strong”, Frédéric Guesdon
The Frenchman distanced all of his competitors and was able to join the leading group in just one kilometre. “It wasn’t easy to know when to make the jump,” said Frédéric. “He tried, it worked, and he was the last to come back to the front. It was a tough effort, but he felt it was the moment. When you’re strong, you know that you have to go when everyone is struggling.” Thanks to a great effort, the French puncher got back into the mix for victory, but a few kilometres later, in the Denderoodberg, he was unable to follow the wheels of Tim Wellens and Arnaud De Lie at the top, although he caught up and left the rest of the group behind. “Valentin had a great race and put in a lot of effort,” added Frédéric. “In hindsight, we can always say that he should have done less at certain times to be even fresher in the final, but he was very strong nonetheless. When Wellens and De Lie attacked on the last climb, he was close to going with them. I think it would have been possible if he had raced a bit more conservatively. Some riders save any effort possible; Valentin is not like that. That’s perhaps what he missed today, it’s a pity, but we’re not going to complain because he fought well and got a big result.”
The Belgian duo was therefore not caught before the finish on the “Muur”, where Valentin Madouas came within a group of five which he easily beat in the final hectometres to secure a very nice podium. “I’m very happy with the legs, and it’s positive ahead of the Canadian races”, said Valentin. The rest of the “bunch” finished about forty seconds later, and Paul Penhoët took a convincing tenth place on the line. “It’s a shame that there weren’t big gaps in the end, because Valentin was far behind in the general classification and that only places him in fourteenth overall,” added Frédéric. “The results of this Renewi Tour are still pretty good as we placed fifth, a fourth and a third on the stages. Overall, the team was very good. Paul finished tenth in a stage like that while he was discovering the Belgian cobbled climbs. He will then take part in the Bremer Classic, and that can be a great end to the season for him. Eddy (20th overall, editor’s note) also rode a nice race. It was a good group, also with Olivier and Fabian as road captains, who advised the youngsters and replaced Valentin on many occasions.”
