Competing this week in the Tour of Guangxi, Pavel Sivakov has the opportunity to put an end to one of the worst black streaks in French Cycling.
It is known: the whole country has been waiting since 1985 for a successor to Bernard Hinault, the last Tricolor winner of the Tour de France. But there is another shortage that hurts, that of the 17 years without a victory for French riders in stage races at World Tour level. Since Christophe Moreau’s victory in the Dauphiné in 2007, to be precise.
What if the wait ended this week? The 2024 season ends on Sunday with the conclusion of the Tour of Guangxi and imagine that a Frenchman is among the favorites for the event. This is Pavel Sivakov, leader of the famous UAE-Team Emirates team.
Sivakov in great form
The Russian-born runner is in good shape. After his ninth place in the Vuelta, he accompanied Tadej Pogacar in his crazy escape in the road race of the Worlds, and Sivakov was the Slovenian’s most prominent teammate in the Italian classics. He thus remains in 6th place in the Tour of Lombardy, and comes to China to compete for the general classification.
After the first four stages completed in a sprint, the final victory will undoubtedly be decided on Saturday during the race but a very steep climb towards Nongla. Sivakov will especially have to be wary of the Belgian Lennert van Eetvelt, also in the spotlight in the Tour of Lombardy (7th), or the Briton Max Poole, who has just won the Tour of Langkawi.
A success at the Tour of Guangxi would undoubtedly not have the prestige of a victory at Paris-Nice or the Tour of Catalonia. But for French cycling, statistically, it would do a lot of good.
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