We knew they were angry, simple office colleagues if not the best friends in the world. David Gaudu had lit a wick in February. “Me, I don’t want him to come to the Tour de France”, he had dropped on social networks, speaking of Arnaud Démare. He apologized, but the long-known internal tensions in the community took on a public dimension. Paris-Nice was an opportunity, if not to ease tensions between the two, at least to show that they could work together. This is what happened on March 9 on the 5th stage of the race of the sun between Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise and Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux.
Let’s rewind the day. There are just under 54 km to go in this 212 km long stage. The peloton has an appointment at the top of the small Devès pass for an intermediate sprint with bonuses. Tadej Pogacar the provisional leader of the race is there at the forefront but the Groupama FDJ formation is in force, with in particular David Gaudu and Arnaud Démare.
Démare launches hostilities on the left of the road with the double winner of the Tour de France 2020 and 2021 in his wheel. There are seconds to take under the banner and the Slovenian does not want to let them slip away. This is where David Gaudu comes out of his box to take advantage of his teammate’s slipstream and win the bonus sprint ahead of Démare and Pogacar. The UEA Emirates runner crosses the line with an evil look in the direction of the Picard who accuses him of having closed the door on his side. Nothing bad though.
6 bonus seconds for Gaudu
Result ? Gaudu takes six bonus seconds, Démare steals four and Pogacar is content with two. Yes, Arnaud Démare worked well for David Gaudu who in the operation therefore takes 4 seconds from the Slovenian in the general classification who therefore only has a 6 second margin over the Frenchman in the general classification.
If on Sunday, on the Promenade des Anglais, Gaudu wins Paris-Nice by less than 4 seconds, he will be able to say a big thank you to Arnaud Démare. This fifth stage was won by Dutchman Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) ahead of Dane Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Belgian Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step)
This March 10, the stage between Tourves and La Colle-sur-Loup (197 km) promises several difficulties: the coast of Tuilières (2.3 km at 7.8%), the coast of Callian (2 km at 6, 9%), the coast of Cabris (5.3 km at 5.8%) and the coast of La Colle-sur-Loup (1.8 km at 10%).