Tour de France: David Gaudu: “Without a great team, I finish at 20 min” – Cyclism’Actu

David Gaudu gritted his teeth all day, but he hung on. And he did well. Left behind in the two big climbs of the day, the Col du Galibier and the Col du Granon, the Groupama-FDJ rider climbed at his own pace and managed to limit damage during the 11th stage of the Tour de France, this Wednesday. Catching up with his opponents one by one, including a Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) in great difficulty, the “little Prince of Brittany” even took 5th place when we thought he was in perdition. Still well placed in the general classification – 7th 3’13” from the winner of the day and new yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), but only 52″ from his runner-up Romain Bardet (Team DSM) – the French climber made the assessment of this memorable day on the Grande Boucle.Video – David Gaudu… struggling on this 11th stage of the Tour! “Pogacar? It’s the bike. No one is safe from a bad day” “It was a crazy stage, from start to finish. I was a bit “stuck” on the whole beginning of the stage, in the Galibier in particular. I was able to keep my calm and I was able to rely on an incredible team. Without them today, I am nothing. If they are not there, I I’m maybe twenty minutes overall tonight. On the last climb, we managed really well. In the end, I felt pretty good and I knew it was very tough. We suspected that Jonas Vingegaard was going to be the stronger and the goal was not to hang on at all costs if it was to explode five terminals from the top”, explained the native of Quimper, very lucid in his management of the effort. “You had to manage and try to take the guys back one by one, and that’s what happened. I took over Tadej Pogacar, I took over Adam Yates. I took over everyone I could take over. I didn’t end up too burnt. How was it to catch up and overtake Pogacar? It’s cycling. No one is immune to a bad day. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow how it’s going to be. I’m happy with my day”, concluded David Gaudu, already ready to return to war on Thursday in a 12th stage which promises to be just as thrilling to Alpe d’Huez.

David Gaudu finished 5th at the top of the Col du Granon after overcoming many opponents on the final ascent! pic.twitter.com/61WgHxrSkQ — Groupama-FDJ Cycling Team (@GroupamaFDJ) July 13, 2022