Out of Pinot's shadow and into the glare: David Gaudu takes aim at the Tour de France

Gaudu
(Image credit: Getty Images)

When Thibaut Pinot returned to the Groupama-FDJ team bus after his triumph atop the Col du Tourmalet at the 2019 Tour de France, one of the first things he did was to put an arm around David Gaudu and say: “Merci”.

With Julian Alaphilippe in the yellow jersey and Pinot in the ascendancy, and both riders pictured with President Macron atop the Tourmalet, France went into overdrive, sensing that a first home Tour winner in 34 years was imminent. That failed to materialse but Gaudu’s contribution – whittling down the favourites’ group and placing 15th himself – didn’t go unnoticed, and it suggested there’d be plenty more opportunities in the years ahead.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.