The Paris-Nice races follow one another and are not alike for David Gaudu.
A year ago, the little Breton from the Groupama-FDJ team finished in an encouraging second place in the final general classification behind Tadej Pogacar but ahead of Jonas Vingegaard.
Raising hopes of a podium for the following Tour de France.
Hopes… disappointed since he finished ninth in Paris.
This year, it’s quite the opposite for David Gaudu.
He crossed the race to the sun, which lived up to his nickname, without influencing the events.
And even before the start of the last stage, this Sunday between Nice and Nice over 109.3 km, Gaudu decided not to start.
“Persistent pain, due to his fall on the Mont Brouilly stage, does not allow David Gaudu to continue from Paris to Nice,” explains his team in a press release.
The Breton will observe a few days of rest and carry out additional investigations.
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The consequences of a “cadet fault”
And Jacky Maillot, the Groupama - FDJ doctor, specifies the nature of his injury.
“Since his fall on Wednesday, David Gaudu has suffered painful muscular after-effects which have intensified over the days,” he notes.
Today, David is not able to repeat high intensity efforts.
The medical staff, in agreement with the sports management, made the decision not to have him run the 8th stage of Paris-Nice.
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On Wednesday, during the stage between Chalon-sur-Saône and Mont Brouilly, Gaudu was in fact the victim of "a cadet's mistake" in his own words.
While trying to take off his jacket, he caught his handlebars and fell violently to the ground.
Dragging his compatriot Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon - AG2R) into his fall.
Gaudu was shocked by the impact of his helmet on the asphalt.
But he also hit the ground with his right shoulder.
The latter was bruised.
34th in the general classification, 36 minutes behind Brandon McNulty (UAE), Gaudu had nothing more to hope for from the race.
And he was in no condition to shine on the Promenade des Anglais.
He can just console himself by saying that if his start to the year has nothing to do with that of 2023, his Tour de France next June could be more brilliant than a year ago.