Published on : 07/14/2023
The day after Ion Izagirre's victory, the riders had to face a short and particularly testing stage ending at the summit of the Grand Colombier. Guillaume Martin finished just outside the top 20, putting him in 15th place overall ahead of tomorrow's big race.
It's a feeling that's so rare on the cycling scene, that it can be appreciated down to the smallest detail. To wake up having won a stage of the Tour de France is to gain a little more serenity and lightness. Ion Izagirre's victory made the headlines in the Spanish press on Friday morning, and followers had fun with the statistics. It was recalled that Cofidis had only won two stages twice in its history (2004 and 2008). Ion, on the other hand, won the Tour de France 6 years and 11 months after his first success in Morzine. The gap between a 1st and a 2nd victory is a record held by... Cédric Vasseur, winner in La Châtre in 1997 and ten years later in Marseille in 2007.
Guillaume Martin, 15th overall
Ion and the whole Cofidis team know that a victory, no matter how beautiful, doesn't mean you can't look ahead to the day's efforts. So everyone refocused and immersed themselves in this Friday's stage, with 137.8 km and above all a giant ascent to the Grand Colombier (17.4 km at 7.1%). To mark the 14th of July, the team's French riders wore striking Ekoi blue-white-red helmets.
On the road, the breakaway took a long time to form, and despite several attempts - including one by Bryan Coquard, who was interposed for a while - the Cofidis team failed to get into the break. A good reason to take it easy before the final climb.
In a particularly tricky final climb to the summit, the Cofidis riders had their hands full. Guillaume Martin finished 23rd on the day's stage. In the overall classification, he is 15th, 10 min 46 sec behind Jonas Vingegaard. Tomorrow, another high-flying stage awaits with five passes to climb, including the Col de Joux Plane. A new opportunity for the Normand to get closer to the top 10!
