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Valentin Madouas is competing this year in his third Tour de France with Groupama-FDJ, in the service of its leader David Gaudu, currently 5th in the general classification, and alongside the experienced Thibault Pinot. He tells us about the race seen from inside the peloton, its good times and its bad times, in weekly road diaries. After a successful start to the race for him and his team, the young Breton talks in this third episode about his management of the rest day and the challenges of the next stages, when scorching temperatures are expected.
Repos !
This Monday was rest, but I still got up at 8am and at 10.30am I was on the bike for a “little” two-hour outing, a coffee with the team and a leisurely ride. It’s a question of balance: you have to think about recovering and at the same time not cut out completely. I needed both a good nap, a good massage and a bit of physical activity, so as not to put the body to sleep.
I also watched a few episodes of Ozark (an American series, editor’s note), the delayed Formula 1 Grand Prix, I had appointments with the media, not to mention overdue emails to read. In the end, it goes pretty quickly.
The diet is also different compared to a day of racing, we try to divide the number of calories by two or three. On the menu this afternoon: avocado-cake as a starter, then veal accompanied by small vegetables, and a poached pear to finish. It was very good and lighter than the other days. I drank a lot too, it’s very important to replenish the water stocks in the body with the heat that awaits us in the next few days.
Loved ones, so far away…
The Covid threat means that the team has adopted a fairly strict policy in relation to outside contact. We can’t afford to take risks and spoil our good start to the Tour in France. The cases announced in recent days (3 riders left the race following a positive Covid test, including the leader of Cofidis, Guillaume Martin, well placed overall, editor’s note) are a good reminder. Inevitably, in this context, relations with relatives are quite limited: we can see them quickly at the start, but they cannot come and visit us at the hotel. In the end, we mostly talk on the phone. It’s tough for them and for us but I’m so focused on the event that it’s going well. I also tell myself that it only lasts 3 weeks and that we have a good group here.
Heat wave: red vigilance!
The extreme heat announced for the next few days could reshuffle the cards and will make these stages in the Alps even more difficult. Failures can happen very quickly, as we saw with Alexis Vuillermoz on Sunday (the rider from the TotalEnergies team gave up following an illness on arrival in Châtel, editor’s note). In these conditions, the effort is different, you have to stay at your own pace, never get into the red, otherwise it’s very difficult to “get back on the road”. Some bodies accept very high temperatures better than others, but above all you have to stay well hydrated, drink liters of water during and after the stages, almost a liter per hour when it’s very hot. It is important not to wait to be thirsty to start drinking, often it is already too late. In our team, there is also a “hydration follow-up” every morning. These conditions are not the ones I prefer, I often need a little time to adapt to them, but in general it is better afterwards.
The race in the lead
I was pleasantly surprised from the start. I didn’t think I was at this level, probably in the top 20 in the mountains, with excellent sensations. I’m not going to get carried away either, the Tour is still long, but everything is going well for me and for the team. We often see our jerseys in the top positions of the peloton, which means that we are more and more solid and respected, thanks to the performances of our leaders, Thibault (Pinot) in recent years and David (Gaudu, 5th in the general classification, editor’s note) today. Being placed, in contact with the best teams in the world, on the Tour de France, is a source of great pride, even if at the moment I don’t think too much about it: I try above all to be focused, mistakes can quickly arrive!
Morzine, Valentin Madouas
