Thirty minutes after the arrival, David Gaudu resumed his mischievous air and bursts out laughing at the foot of the Groupama-FDJ bus. He has just grabbed a pack of beers and promises to drink them all. No one thinks of reproaching him: he comes all the same, by finishing third in the sprint, to offer himself the first podium on a Cycling Monument. “I take it as an encouragement and a joy, he savored. In front it is all the same Pogacar and Alaphilippe. I am very happy to have been looking for this podium. Liège is the classic that makes me dream the most on the calendar. We all have dreams even if we don't know if they are achievable. "
Relaxed, he never stops talking about his day and its outcome. “At the kilometer, I suspected that I was the slowest, he recalls. As I was about to try my luck, I turned around and saw Julian Alaphilippe ready to jump on me. So I gave up (smile). And for two days, I had the ascent of La Roche-aux-Faucons, the last of the race, in my head. I knew it was an “all-in” where it either went or broke. You had to be in a good position. "
His teammate and friend Valentin Madouas was as happy as if he had climbed the podium himself. “It's not a glass ceiling that's broken for David because we all know he can do great things,” he says. But victory here will come one day. His fate will want him to take the right wave once. It's obvious. “His general manager, Marc Madiot, pretends not to understand that we are surprised by the podium of his rider. “But it's just normal for someone like him,” he says. What is most satisfying is that for the cycle started during the Tour of the Basque Country, David was in the game until the end. And by improving. That is a very good sign for the future. "
In fact, only one man can complain about Gaudu's podium: a friend of the latter: “I have a friend who told me that if I made a podium in this race, he would come and ride for seven hours with me. , he says. And he's going to have to come and he doesn't ride a lot (smile). "