” I don’t know. Are you disappointed? “Wednesday, in Laruns, it was with a slightly mocking air, and not at all affected, that David Gaudu had tried to get rid of a question about his performance of the day, punctuated by the loss of two minutes on Jai Hindley, a serious rival for the podium on the Champs-Élysées. 24 hours later, he did not use this malice. If the Frenchman did not appear at the microphone, due to a doping control, he still took the time to comment on this queen stage in the Pyrenees via a voice message. This time, the disappointment is assumed.
“I had good feelings on the final climb but here it is, I exploded a little suddenly at two and a half terminals”, conceded the climber from Groupama-FDJ. A brilliance which now relegates him to two minutes and twenty-nine seconds behind Hindley, current third behind the untouchable Vingegaard-Pogacar duo. After resisting in the Col du Tourmalet, Gaudu was unclipped just after Cauterets by the Australian, as well as by the Yates brothers and Carlos Rodriguez. “Unfortunately, I was not having my best day. There are some where we are very good, others where it is more difficult. There are a lot of mountains coming up. The Alps will be decisive in any case. We’re not going to lose our way. »
“We will not have to take any shots for two and a half weeks”
This slight failure does not worry his clan unduly. Piano piano, Gaudu remains a diesel. Here is basically the watchword, while three stages are still on the menu, including the mythical puy de Dôme, before the first day of rest. “We won’t have to take any shots for two and a half weeks. They are ten or fifteen to play for (third) place on the podium and those just behind. But we are in our race, we are looking at it from further away, ”tempers Marc Madiot.
Groupama-FDJ has chosen this year to bet everything on the general, by removing from the list its soon to be ex-star sprinter, Arnaud Démare. Marc Madiot and his staff took their risk in doing so. To no longer be in the race for the podium even before the Alps would represent a severe disappointment. They therefore know that they are being watched closely.
“It will be complicated, Hindley is very strong, Yates too. But the gaps at La Loze (during the 17th stage, July 19), it will be counted in minutes, ”predicts Thibaut Pinot, who could not repeat his feat of 2019 at the Tourmalet but took care of protecting Gaudu a good bit of time this Thursday.
A tough guy who wants to bet on the third week
On paper, the extreme roughness of the route throughout these three weeks has everything to please the fourth in the last Tour de France. A single time, lots of elevation changes, summit finishes… Last year, he first faltered in Alpe-d’Huez before shining with his consistency in the third week. He then confided that he had learned about himself and gained mental points. Armed with this new internal baggage, he would not be against repeating such a performance. As hard as he is and after a remodeled preparation supposed to lead him to his fullness in about ten days.
And if the hunt for the most beautiful place among the Muggles of the peloton was not played on a major feat but, more cruelly, by elimination? At each major meeting its share of castaways. On Thursday, the dropped captain had the tried face of Mattias Skjelmose. The 22-year-old nugget from the Lidl-Trek plunged to 21st place overall, at 8′47′. Meanwhile, Gaudu has moved up three places. He now occupies seventh position, just ahead of a certain Romain Bardet, more dashing than the day before. Yes, there are grounds for satisfaction. We will simply have to find the solution to the Hindley puzzle, his Geraint Thomas version 2023.
