David Gaudu discussion thread

[Salvarani]

The French do everything to live up to the stereotype.

 

[RedheadDane]

And here I was, thinking he was such a sweet guy...

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

The old story, climbers vs sprinters within the teams.

Reminds me of Klöden vs Zabel at T-Mobile team.

Or the machismo in the Italian teams, in the 1990ies. Training camp real talk, back then: Sprinter to climber: „My private parts are bigger than your stronger upper thigh!“… ;-) grin

 

[Mayomaniac]

I usually never side with the Sprinter, but at least Demare actually wins stuff and doesn't only get participation trophies. You can demand more support when you have the results to back it up and frankly the team doesn't even have the firepower to give Gaudu more that 2-3 good mountain domestiques.

 

[staubsauger]

I usually never side with the Sprinter, but at least Demare actually wins stuff and doesn't only get participation trophies. You can demand more support when you have the results to back it up and frankly the team doesn't even have the firepower to give Gaudu more that 2-3 good mountain domestiques.

Gaudu might actually get his fake podium without earning it like Virenque if they cut the TT miles once again.

 

[Salvarani]

I usually never side with the Sprinter, but at least Demare actually wins stuff and doesn't only get participation trophies. You can demand more support when you have the results to back it up and frankly the team doesn't even have the firepower to give Gaudu more that 2-3 good mountain domestiques.

I guess Gaudu wants to be fully backed with the route being what it is this year. He finished 4th last season and has a good chance to be on the podium.

Demare on the other hand was very good in the Giro, won the Points Classification with three stage-wins, and ended last season great with a win in Paris-Tours. He has probably earned another chance but the last time in 2021 he wasnt very good in the Tour.

Tricky situation. Who do you back? Or do you take both? With potentially ending up with nothing, because of trying to do too much.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Who do you back?

When it comes to children being silly you tend not to take sides.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I guess Gaudu wants to be fully backed with the route being what it is this year. He finished 4th last season and has a good chance to be on the podium.

Demare on the other hand was very good in the Giro, won the Points Classification with three stage-wins, and ended last season great with a win in Paris-Tours. He has probably earned another chance but the last time in 2021 he wasnt very good in the Tour.

Tricky situation. Who do you back? Or do you take both? With potentially ending up with nothing, because of trying to do too much.

Frankly FDJ doesn't even have the team to support Gaudu with a full mountain train. All their young climbers are neopros, Storer and Madouas + maybe another guy is all they can really offer him. Add in a guy for the flat that can help out both of them like Geniets or Küng and 2 men for Demare and you have the team.
Demare is the one who looses out on a full train with shared leadership, Gaudu still gets his 2-3 climbing domestiques.

 

[Tim Cahill]

The glasses and boyish face had us all fooled

 

[cen]

I mean.. he is not wrong.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Gaudu apologized.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/david-gaudu-apologises-after-lashing-out-at-arnaud-demare-in-leaked-online-chat/

 

[Mayomaniac]

I mean.. he is not wrong.

Yeah, but is he in a better position that Demare?
The later won 3 Giro stages, the points classification and Paris-Tours, while Gaudu is one of 6 or 7 riders who can fight for the final spot on the Tour podium, if everything goes right. One isn't clearly the better pick than the other and Demare kinda earned himself another shot at the Tour.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Yeah, but is he in a better position that Demare?
The later won 3 Giro stages, the points classification and Paris-Tours, while Gaudu is one of 6 or 7 riders who can fight for the final spot on the Tour podium, if everything goes right. One isn't clearly the better pick than the other and Demare kinda earned himself another shot at the Tour.

But Démare would have to win a stage for it to really be a success, whereas it wouldn't be a disaster if Gaudu only finished 4th or 5th overall. And unless the two of them resolve their issues before the Tour, it might not be great for team moral to bring both of them.

That said, if Démare gets good results this season, I'd probably still bring him along. However it may not be that easy for him to get those without Guarnieri and Sinkeldam.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Going to be difficult to bring both of them to the Tour after this. Also difficult to defend Démare being the one to miss out from a moral perspective, talking about your colleagues like this in public is simply not done. Then again Démare is out of contract while Gaudu is signed until 2025, Démare has lost his preferred leadout, and a GC podium bid is commercially more interesting than trying for sprint wins, so if it's between the two of them, I expect Démare to get pushed out of the Tour squad and potentially also out of the team.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Leadership. Gaudu as a leader currently feels much pressure and would rather see the whole Tour team dedicated to him. Roglič was fine with van Aert going for green and Vingegaard taking yellow.

Not all leaders are the same.

 

[yaco]

Traditionally, FDJ splits the GC rider and the sprinter between the TDF and the Giro - The problem they have is that the TDF route suits both Gaudu and Demare - I worry about Demare at the TDF because he's DNF/OTL two times in the last three, yet he has no problem finishing the Giro which is more mountainous. I wouldn't be surprised if FDJ nurse Demare to 100 wins ( he's riding the Tour of Antalya ) and then he is cut adrift, especially with the young talents that are coming through the team.

 

[BR2]

Gaudu really shot himself in the foot with this. Don't know how Demare acts behind the scenes, from what I could gather publically he always seems like a very nice, relaxed guy. He's an extremly boring rider for me, but a fun character and prolific winner.
What I find weird is how Gaudu says he already told him he didn't want him in the team. Well, that shouldn't be his decision. In my eyes the team should make the decision a few weeks before based on how the season went until then, because at this point it seems like a hard decision to make. Indeed Demare without his full train is not the usual Demare, but putting all your eggs into the Gaudu basket seems like a risky bet as well since a GC rider can crash out so easily. With someone who's not a clear candidate for the win I suppose it makes more sense to go the Bora way and let the helpers go for stages as well.
Gaudu was supposed to be the new French love. It's going to be hard for him after this chat went public.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Leadership. Gaudu as a leader currently feels much pressure and would rather see the whole Tour team dedicated to him. Roglič was fine with van Aert going for green and Vingegaard taking yellow.

Not all leaders are the same.

if Démare turned into a great domestique like Van Aert, then I'm sure Gaudu would be fine with him being there.

 

[CyclistAbi]

if Démare turned into a great domestique like Van Aert, then I'm sure Gaudu would be fine with him being there.

Somehow doubt that now. More likely Démare to get an additional dom. Like van Aert did.

 

[RedheadDane]

I usually never side with the Sprinter, but at least Demare actually wins stuff and doesn't only get participation trophies. You can demand more support when you have the results to back it up and frankly the team doesn't even have the firepower to give Gaudu more that 2-3 good mountain domestiques.

Oh, I hope he doesn't get his wish, especially because it seems Demare has pretty much been promised he'll get to ride the Tour.

Gaudu might actually get his fake podium without earning it like Virenque if they cut the TT miles once again.

They had to cut the TT miles during the race?

The glasses and boyish face had us all fooled

My thoughts too.

Don't know how Demare acts behind the scenes, from what I could gather publically he always seems like a very nice, relaxed guy.

Well, according to the Danish article about it, Gaudu also accused Demare of refusing to go into a lift with him - okay, mostly just a bit childish - and pushing him to the ground.

 

[Mayomaniac]

At the same time Guarnieri hasn't been what he used to be over the last 2 seasons, so the new leadout might not be such a bad idea.
If I was running FDJ I'd go out of my way to bring Demare now and if Gaudu does this kind of stuff again he gets a fine. Certain stuff shouldn't be aired on social media, that's unprofessional behaviour and bad publicity for the team. You can tell the team how you feel, but these kind of things should be solved inside the team and far away from the public.

 

[BR2]

At the same time Guarnieri hasn't been what he used to be over the last 2 seasons, so the new leadout might not be such a bad idea.
If I was running FDJ I'd go out of my way to bring Demare now and if Gaudu does this kind of stuff again he gets a fine. Certain stuff shouldn't be aired on social media, that's unprofessional behaviour and bad publicity for the team. You can tell the team how you feel, but these kind of things should be solved inside the team and far away from the public.

That's what I didn't understand so far - was it a private chat that was leaked? It sure wasn't meant to be public? Which media is it?

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

This chat - I even thought it could be fake, maybe?… I could not imagine that Gaudu wrote this.

I mean: Demare is a powerfully built sprinter, with a face mean and lean. He looks really intimidating, a real bull on the bike.

Gaudu rather looks like a boy, who would not hurt anybody.

Now Gaudu apparently attacked Demare hard, in this chat. I hope his excuse will be accepted, and this small battle is over. I like both riders and their team.

These words now make it hard for everyone on the team. Imagine Gaudu and Demare both start at the Tour this year. Difficult, then.

Only explanation for Gaudu‘s words is that he is really motivated for next Tour, because the route is tailormade for him. And he was 4th last year. You never know what happens, so Gaudu could end up on the podium, or even win this year.

So Gaudu dreams of TdF victory in five months. This would would be attractive also financially for him. Maybe he‘s strongly in love with his girlfriend, and dreams of making them millionaires this summer. Maybe the passionate hours in the nights with his girlfriend made Gaudu lose his mind a little bit, and write these words. That‘s male psychology, very often. And so he went to chat.

 

[CyclistAbi]

On the other hand the other side might have provoked such outburst. And as the discussion was on a private channel. Hence maybe we are exaggerating a bit.

They will be fine.

 

[AlfaLum]

It's a big blunder from Gaudu of course, but from the looks of it in French media there has happened a fair bit between the two of them. So hard to make a statement about the situation for me without knowing the full story behind what Gaudu considers a lack of respect since 2017.

But this might be a Madiot masterpiece by having them ride together, giving both of them the motivation to excel.