In recovery on the Romandie Tour After several weeks without competition following his fall on Tyrrhenian-Adriatic and his wrist injury, David Gaudu is in Switzerland to find the pace and the form … and this 2nd stage this Thursday should greatly serve him with this in mind! On a fairly full -bodied course and under a strong heat, Remco Evenepoel and the team Soudal Quick-Step Has hurt the peloton, especially in the last difficulty of Chaumont, and initiated a unbridled race which allowed the favorites to discover themselves this week. A little just to hang the group of leaders in Chaumont, the Breton climber sailed to a second step and ultimately loses that around twenty seconds on the rest of the favorites. The leader of Groupama-FDJ took stock of this demanding day after arriving at the microphone of L’Equipe chain.
VIDEO – The highlights of this 2nd animated stage
“In the end, I was perhaps less cooked than what I thought … it’s encouraging for the future”
“It doesn’t have that I hate them today, but Remco Evenepoel and the Sudal Quick-Step still hurt my legs… “, he started by saying laughing.”But I have to go there to find my level. We are there for that, we like to suffer even if obviously when we suffer, it is not the most pleasant. I fought all day, I was at the breaker. The departure was very fast, and it did not disconnect of the day, the route lent itself well. I took my rhythm in the last climb (Chaumont), because from the foot I was cooked. In the end, I was perhaps less cooked than what I thought, I rather make a nice climb. So it’s encouraging for the future. I tilted with Higuitita and Jack Haig, about 30 seconds from the group of Remco Evenepoel. While it is organized, we ended up with a good group of around forty units. There were teams to ride, so we didn’t like it too much behind. We saw them in sight, we were not far from coming back. Personally, I hid because I was dead, I was just in survival to rally the finish line“.
What would be a Romandie Tour satisfactory according to him? “”With a little irony, I would already say to finish the race without falling, it would already be not bad! Otherwise, spending this kind of day, it makes me progress a lot, because I have not yet had it this year. I will do all the stages thoroughly every day, and I will give everything in the mountain stage on Saturday, and we will see what will happen on Sunday“. He will then have five days before the big departure of the Giro d’Italia Next Friday, in Albania. “”The Giro, I go there to play the general classification. I will surely have ten days galley, I will have trouble and I will have to hang on, a bit like today. And I think that afterwards, it should result. Even if I lose two or three minutes the first week, given the final program, it will be played with minutes, so you will have to be conqueror. We will then put what remains on the Tour de France I want to say, we will see“, the conclusion David Gaudu.
