“He is completely in denial” - David Gaudu facing Tour de France axe as Groupama-FDJ teammate says support is disappearing

David Gaudu was once the French climber who looked closest to turning home hope into a Tour de France podium challenge. Four years after finishing 4th overall at the 2022 edition, the Groupama - FDJ United rider is now reportedly set to miss the race altogether.

The 29-year-old is unlikely to be selected for the 2026 Tour de France, which starts on 4 July in Barcelona, according to Le Parisien.

The report claims Gaudu still imagines himself riding the Grande Boucle, but that the mood inside his team has moved in a very different direction.

Unless there is an unlikely turnaround at the French Championships this Sunday, the Breton is expected to be left out of Groupama - FDJ United’s Tour squad. The situation was framed in brutal terms, with Gaudu described as “completely in denial”.

The most damaging assessment came from inside Gaudu’s own team. One unnamed teammate offered a stark view of a rider whose status appears to have weakened well beyond a simple question of selection.

“David is an irritating mystery,” the teammate told Le Parisien. “He no longer has the flame but he is the only one who does not realise it. And I can tell you that he has fewer and fewer supporters within the team.”

For a rider who has spent his entire professional career in the Groupama-FDJ structure, those words land heavily. Gaudu joined the team as one of the brightest climbing prospects in French cycling, won three stages at the Vuelta a Espana, finished 2nd overall at Paris-Nice in 2023 and twice placed inside the top ten at the Tour de France.

His 4th place in 2022 briefly made him France’s clearest Grand Tour reference point. That status has now faded to the point where his Tour selection is reportedly no longer expected.

Gaudu’s 2026 results offer little argument for a protected Tour role. His best finish this season is 5th at Boucles de l’Aulne - Chateaulin in May, a French 1.1 race. At WorldTour level, his strongest individual results have been 9th on Jebel Hafeet at the UAE Tour and 8th on stage 4 of Paris-Nice.

The Paris-Nice result briefly hinted at a more encouraging spring, but Gaudu abandoned the race the following day. His stage-race record since then has not built a case for a Tour revival.

He finished 59th overall at Volta a Catalunya, where his best stage finishes were 13th in Barcelona and 14th on the road to Queralt. At Tour de Romandie, he ended the week 57th overall and did not come close to shaping the general classification.

His last victory remains stage 3 of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, on 25 August last year. On that day, Gaudu could hardly have imagined it would still be his most recent success almost a year later.

The possible Tour omission marks another turn in a difficult spell for Gaudu. His 2024 Tour de France already left questions around his place among the race’s serious general classification names, even before he salvaged that season with 6th overall at the Vuelta a Espana.

The response in 2026 has not yet arrived. Groupama-FDJ United now appear set to head towards the Tour without the rider who once carried their biggest French GC hopes.

Gaudu’s route back into the race may come down to the French Championships. Without a result big enough to force a late rethink, one of the most recognisable French climbers of the last decade looks set to miss the Tour de France at the moment his place inside his own team appears more fragile than ever.