“Pleasure” but no victory… What if David Gaudu’s crazy stage summed up the Tour on the French side?

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From our special correspondent in Luz-Ardiden

The Ineos Grenadiers rode all Thursday afternoon as if they were defending the yellow jersey. Except that their leader, Richard Carapaz, is only third in the Tour de France and will remain so after being tamed without panache at the top of Luz-Ardiden by the boss Tadej Pogacar and his second Jonas Vingegaard. If it still served the Slovenian ogre, the cryptic strategy of the British formation made a collateral victim: David Gaudu, 19th of this last Pyrenean walk at 2 ’50 “from” Pogi “the cannibal.

At the head of a Groupama-FDJ team reduced to four riders (Gaudu, Madouas, Armirail, Küng) for eight days, the Breton did as he and his fellow survivors had planned: attack in this 18th stage, the day after a deserved fourth place at the top of the Col du Portet. Once Pogacar had finished squatting the podium to receive his yellow, white, polka-dot jerseys and his 2021 Monsieur Bigorre scarf, Gaudu succeeded him to recover the bouquet of the combativity prize, aka “pity, but well tried. anyway ”.

From Sunday in Andorra la Vella, the Haut-Pyrenean Bruno Armirail had ticked the Pau – Luz-Saint-Sauveur box. Its leader had confirmed Wednesday evening, indicating: “We will aim more for the stage victory tomorrow than the Top 10 overall. This Thursday evening, Gaudu, winner twice in the Vuelta 2020, remains empty-handed in four participations in the Tour, and is 11th overall.

A plan that comes from afar

On paper, however, the plan seemed flawless: “attack from afar to try to counter the big favorites,” he revealed afterwards. An idea concocted “from the Ventoux”, on July 7, when the former winner of the Tour de l’Avenir 2016 had abandoned his ambitions in the general standings at the same time as his guts on the tarmac.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work. But I was an actor. Maybe I would have done 4, 5, 6 or 7th of the pedal step, I don’t know, but today I just wanted to try to win. And on the pedal, I saw yesterday that I was perhaps a little less strong than the others and that I had to play differently. “

Magnéto Serge: with Valentin Madouas as scout, the 24-year-old climber joined the leading duo (Alaphilippe-Mahoric) just over 40 meters from the finish. He then turned to the top of the Tourmalet, his favorite pass since childhood, just behind Pierre Latour, not without having stylishly avoided a Stade Toulousain flag inappropriately waved in front of his face.

After having let go of his compatriot on the descent, he arrived alone at the foot of the final ascent but was taken over by the baroque association Ineos-Pogacar less than 10 km from the Grail. “At the bottom of the Tourmalet, there was a lot of headwind and Pierre [Latour] failed to take my wheel on the descent. But we had a lot of fun. “

With a gap on the yellow jersey group never greater than the minute, there was never any question of reliving the emotions of the fabulous 2019 stage concluded with a Pinot-Alaf’au Tourmalet double.

The paradox according to Martin

The displayed absence of regret in Gaudu’s speech is reflected in the words of Guillaume Martin, 12th this Thursday and best French representative three days from the Champs-Elysées. “This is the year when I was not aiming for the general that I found myself in the Top 10, slips the leader of Cofidis, current 8th. I had fun on this Tour, that’s the most important. “

To see a Habs win a stage, it will be necessary to wait until 2022 as the profile of the last few days (two courses for sprinters, a time trial) does not fit well with the valiant but limited profile of our representatives over a three-week race. The counter for 2021 will remain stuck at one, thanks to the inaugural success of Alaphilippe at Landerneau. The worst record in five years.





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