After a new fall during the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, David Gaudu has multiplied the disillusions in recent times. A bad pass in the perspective of the Giro.
Before taking the start of the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, the group of Groupama-FDJ David Gaudu wanted to quip on his last mishaps. Three falls in three weeks including two on the Strade Bianche. Thinking that he had reached his annual quota, the Frenchman was not at the end of his sorrows, since he fell again this Tuesday 39 km from the finish.
Blocked and mowed by a runner from the back, the Breton was on the aisle, not far from a refueling area. Touched at the elbow, a painful hand, his abandonment on the second stage was inevitable. Deprived of the Classic Var and the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes because of a fall in training-caused by the passage of a wandering animal-Gaudu crosses a bad period.
“It’s a very bad spiral”
A few hours after the race, the disappointment was present in the Groupama-FDJ team. Thierry Bricaud, the sports director sighed after this fall, which “cuts the right start to the climber season”. Winner in the Eastern Mountain’s stage of Oman’s turn, Gaudu won before Adam Yates. A performance that had to be confirmed on the route of Tirreno-Adriatico. In Italy, the negative spiral seems to continue. “We were precisely there to validate the winter work. We find ourselves a little against time. If there is nothing broken, it will go, it is not unacceptable. Even if it creates doubt. Explained Thierry Bricaud.
But this fall also questions the rest of the season. Doubt in the heads and objectives can be modified. Indeed, the Giro which takes place from May 9 to June 1, 2025 is one of the objectives of Gaudu. Will his presence be confirmed? If so, in what physical state? For the moment, a fracture would be dismissed after the fall of the Breton climber during the second Italian stage on March 11. Examination this Wednesday at the start of the day should give a little more information. Gaudu should rest before an internship and the Tour de Romandie.
