The first Frenchman this Saturday during the 7th stage of Dauphiné criterium was not Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), even less Lenny Martinez (Team Bahrain Victorious) but Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ)! The Norman took 10th place in the queen stage by conceding 3'51 on the winner of the day, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), having tried to integrate the breakaway into the Col de la Croix de Iron (22.4 km at 7 %), positive signs before sharing the leadership of the French team on the Tour de France with David Gaudu.
Video – Guillaume Martin finished right in front of Paul Seixas this Saturday
“Always more pleasant to be offensive”
On the website of the Groupama-FDJ, Guillaume Martin explained the anticipation strategy of the French team: “We know that faced with runners like Pogacar, it is impossible to win the regular. The only solution we have left is to anticipate, which very well done by taking the breakaway. Then, I saw that the gap was not huge in the iron cross and it seemed playable to plug the hole. So I went out against, and I think it was a blow to try. It did not disable me so much for the future because it would have been to go very quickly in the yellow jersey group. And it's always more pleasant to be offensive than to undergo “.
“The legs were not terrible at the start of the week, so I was not very ambitious for the weekend. But sometimes there are good surprises. It turns out that I have been rather in the blow since yesterday, and as often concerning myself, I am better and better on each mountain stage. A top 10 on such a step with this level is not bad, and it is above all good to be in the match. We will see during the last step if there is a small opening to consider the stage victory. Otherwise, we will try to grab two places to the general. It will not be easy, but the symbolism of the top 10 is always nice “.
In addition, the Norman climber praised the performance of his teammate, CLÉMENT BRAZ AFONSOleft in the morning escape and 25th in Valmeinier 1800: “Clément made a great step. It was really pleasant to have it by my side. You have to realize that in the top of the iron cross, there were only fifteen runners, including two Groupama-FDJ. It underlines that he has spent a physically milestone and I have known since the Franc-Comtois weekend that he is quite incredible in this role of teammate.
