The yellow jersey ? We forget. The catwalk in Paris? With the polka dot jersey or the super combative prize, why not. On the other hand, it will certainly be necessary to wait to see a rider succeed Romain Bardet, mounted on the box as third in the general classification in 2017. The first week of the Tour seriously scratched the hopes of a podium for the French. While he was in fifth place, 21 seconds from third, at the same stage last year, David Gaudu is in eighth place, already 3’21” behind Jai Hindley. A delay that climbs to 4’18” for Romain Bardet, tenth in the standings. For the moment, it is clear that at the pedal, the Breton and the Auvergnat are far from claiming the ambitions that they could nourish before the Grand Départ.
“The lid popped off”
Arrived in Laruns in the group of Tadej Pogacar, Carlos Rodriguez and the Yates brothers during the first Pyrenean opus, Gaudu cracked the next day when arriving at the summit in Cauterets-Cambasque, where he lost time on Hindley, Rodriguez and the Yates (meaning all of his most serious rivals for third place). Bis repeated in the ascent of the Puy de Dôme where the Breton, jersey wide open, even finished behind Sepp Kuss, Felix Gall or Pello Bilbao. Bardet, he crossed the line 17 seconds after his compatriot. “The speed at the foot with the heat, it completely suffocated us. The pot overheated, the lid jumped, explained the leader of the DSM-Firmenich. There was no secret, the best were ahead. »
The conclusion is relentless. So far, the French are only spectators of the race for the podium. “They are in their place. There was no trafalgar blow, it was done on the pedal, apart from Hindley who knew how to seize his chance on the stage of Marie Blanque”, notes Pierre Rolland. Fourth last year, Gaudu remained straight in his boots on Monday by maintaining the objective of the general, claiming to have “not thought at all” about a change of course. “The road to the Tour is still long, as we often repeat, tempered Thibaut Pinot, who towed Gaudu somehow on Sunday. The podium remains playable and otherwise the top 5 is not ridiculous. In such a fast Tour de France, we must not spit on it. Obviously, a good general classification has value. But next to a stage victory?
Storm under a skull
Ask Luc Leblanc. “In 1996, everyone remembers the Les Arcs stage, less than my sixth place overall. It has more impact”, explains the former runner, who has just released his autobiography “Me, Lucho” (Solar). Especially since the French victors are no longer legion. Of the last 64 stages of the Tour, only three have finished in a tricolor bag: Julian Alaphilippe in Landerneau (2021), Christophe Laporte in Cahors (2022) and Victor Lafay in San Sebastian (2023). “People talk to me about my victories, not about my eighth place in the Tour or my fourth place in the Giro, engages Rolland. Finishing fourth in the Giro was important personally, it’s huge to be on the podium in a Grand Tour, but looking back, I would trade it for a stage. »
For the former Europcar rider, seeing Gaudu climb onto the box “seems complicated”, especially since “Carlos Rodriguez is building up pressure and Jai Hindley is not going to get knocked out like that”. Luc Leblanc is more categorical: “We have seen Gaudu’s limits. I hope I’m wrong but in my opinion, the general classification is screwed. He has to focus on stage wins. ” Hard to imagine according to Rolland, except huge failure: ” It will not branch off, unless it takes a splinter. In his situation, they won’t let him go. I have often been in this situation: I could hardly do better than 7, 8 or 10, but I was too close to have a good exit. In 2015, I was eleventh in the Tour, I took the breakaway, and the tenth team ran over me. You have to be far enough away to stop disturbing. »
No choice, have to go
Romain Bardet will have fewer questions to ask, he who has accumulated places of honor – 2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2017, 6th in 2014, 2018 and 2022, 9th in 2015. The native of Brioude has already won three stages on the Tour, but the last one dates back to 2017. “He can do between 5 and 10 overall, but wouldn’t it be more interesting to get up and go for a stage? At Puy de Dôme, at home, he could have been in front and had fun in the breakaway if he had been far in the standings. When you have already made the top 10, you don’t have a good exit and you can’t beat the best on the pedal, you have to ask yourself the question, ”continues the Orléanais. “Everyone will remember Woods winning for the return of Puy de Dôme. It could have been Gaudu or Bardet, continues Leblanc. You don’t have to play small arm to be eighth or ninth in the Tour. You have to start from afar, go in a breakaway. We look at who is part of it and if it turns out that it’s not worth being there, we get up, but we have to go on the attack. »
Guillaume Martin intends to take this direction, but keeping the general in mind. The leader of the Cofidis formation is accustomed to the fact: in 2021, he had risen to second place overall on the evening of the 14th stage, before taking eighth place in the final, his best result on the Grande Boucle. The Normand is currently beyond the top 15 after nine stages, with a disbursement of more than four minutes compared to the tenth. “I will find a more aggressive temperament. With breakaways and big mountain stages, there will be big gaps. Nothing is prohibitive for the general classification, he slips to West France. Afterwards, if the legs don’t come back, I will completely abandon the idea of the general and I will aim for a stage. The Grand Colombier awaits the French this Friday, July 14. Despite the ignition delay, we will not say no to fireworks.