"I have no explanation, and neither does the team" - David Gaudu completely cracks out of Vuelta GC

Earlier this week, David Gaudu was on a high. The misery that was the 2025 season for the Frenchman seemed to have turned around and suddenly, Gaudu was in red at the Vuelta a Espana with a stage win under his belt and a strong position for a possible GC campaign to defend his 6th place from last year. But the tables have quickly turned once more and already on stage 7, the Groupama - FDJ lost over 15 minutes and completely backed off the general classification.

"I don't know what happened, I don't have a good feeling. Already yesterday (Thursday), I didn't have a good feeling, on the time trial (Wednesday) I was a bit average, so let's say that it's getting worse every day. I hung on but it really wasn't going well. That's how it is," he told L'Équipe after the stage.

The worst part is that nobody knows what went wrong for the Frenchman. "Honestly, I don't have an explanation, and neither does the team." First thought is that Gaudu is another in the line of many victims of an illness that reaps the Vuelta peloton at the moment.

But it's nevertheless a hard fall from the greats at the start of this week. "I was at my best two days ago (winner of the 3rd stage, red jersey the next day) and now, I don't know, it's really not responding at all. My heart rate isn't rising anymore (smile), it's complicated, I can't develop any power, so I'm a bit "blocked", that's how it is, too bad."

Despite the dire situation, the Groupama - FDJ rider is not too gloomy about the turn of events. After all, it was never the plan to contest the general classification, unless all of Gaudu's cards played out perfectly. And that visibly won't be the case this year. Once that became clear, Gaudu happily tanked some extra time on the last climb to drop out of the GC entirely.

"I said I wasn't there for the general classification, so when I was pushing hard and I gave up, I thought I might as well take a quarter of an hour and be far behind in the general classification, see what we can do in the second or third week rather than hanging on, still being ranked and having to fight again in the next few days. At least, it takes a weight off my shoulders and we'll be able to run much more freely, it'll be easier. We'll try to get my legs back and we'll see after that."