What if Thibaud Gruel wore the rainbow jersey? The scenario is far from impossible. And the rider from Neuillé-Pont-Pierre, since this season in the World Tour Groupama-FDJ team, is not holding back anything. It would also be wrong to arrive without ambition, as all the lights are green.
Already, the 20-year-old runner arrives in good shape for this road race of the U23 world championships (hopefuls), this Friday. A month ago, he took a very nice 8e place on the Bretagne Classic in Plouay, his very first World Tour classic.
And since then, he has continued to perform on the World Tour, notably at the Montreal and Quebec Grand Prix, on September 13 and 15. “We had great leaders with Valentin (Madouas), Roman (Gregoire) and even Rudy (Molard)so I had more of a teammate role and I wasn’t necessarily able to go as far as if I had played my personal card. But I really had good feelings and the results are good. It gives me confidence”underlines the Tourangeau.
“A race that makes me dream”
A form which undoubtedly played a role in his selection for these U23 Worlds. “It’s always cool to wear the French team jersey at least once a season, I think. It’s an honorhe adds. And the world championships, I only did them once, but I liked the atmosphere. It’s a race that makes me dream. »
This first experience, among the juniors in 2022, can also give him confidence. Thibaud Gruel finished 7e of the online race and 10e time trial. This year, he will be competing in a single event, at his request: “I didn’t particularly ask to do the time. It allows me for once to concentrate solely on the online race. »
This is run on a course designed for his punching qualities, even if he waits to see the bumps “in real life” in the last kilometers of the circuit. “Normally, a ten-minute climb doesn’t suit me too badly, but we have to see if it’s not too steep,” he explains.
In action “more towards the end of the race”
Everything will also, of course, depend on the scenario. In this, the French team (1) has the weapons to “be represented on all racing diagrams”according to Gruel.
The strategy will be discussed before departure, but the runner trained at UC Joué expects to be one of the last stages of the rocket. “We’re all pretty strong, so I think we’ll all have moments where we have to spring into action. Me, I think it will be more towards the end of the race, in the last two laps or even the last, because I am more of a puncher, a fast runner, while runners like Brieuc (Rolland) or Ewen (Costiou) will have to come into play earlier to toughen the race. »
At these 2024 Worlds, the big favorite for the U23s is the Mexican Isaac del Toro, winner of the 2023 Tour de l’Avenir and great hope of the UAE team, with whom he has already won three bouquets this season. But Thibaud Gruel and the Bleuets hope to play spoilsport. “If I feel really good in the last two laps, I think there can be some nice racing moves with the favorites. And the ideal would be to be there, then, depending on your legs and those of others, to race, or simply to follow and arrive in a small group in a sprint.”imagines the Tourangeau.
He is therefore determined to further embellish this beautiful end of the season, which he will then finish with the Italian classics, perhaps including the Tour of Lombardy as a sublime highlight.
Friday September 27, from 12:45 p.m. on Eurosport, from 3 p.m. on France 3.
(1) Thibaud Gruel is selected alongside Ewen Costiou, Noa Isidore, Clément Izquierdo, Pierre Thierry and Brieuc Rolland.
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