“It ruins a day, you know” – Madiot explains Groupama – FDJ misfortune on stage 8

While the biggest names in the Tour de France continue to rack up stage wins, including UAE Team Emirates, Soudal – Quick-Step, Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lidl-Trek, and EF Education-EasyPost, the start has been rough for most French teams. Only Kevin Vauquelin and Arkea have so far made a noteworthy impact.

For Groupama – FDJ, Stage 8 was supposed to be their breakthrough. Team boss Marc Madiot had had the finish in his sights for some time and was convinced it suited Paul Penhoët perfectly. But a late puncture destroyed their chances before the sprint had even begun.

“It didn't work at all, but that's racing,” Madiot told Cyclism’Actu. “It's a shame, there were a lot of punctures in the same place, so we can imagine that there might have been nails thrown on the road. It's not great. It ruins a day, you know. It's a shame. Paul Penhoët had a puncture, so it was over.”

“It was the ideal sprint for him, on a false flat uphill like that, it was the best we could have hoped for. I'd been thinking about it for a long time. We knew he was pretty good, so we really relied on him today.”

That plan came apart in seconds. “At the end, we had zero points. Anyway, the Tour continues. Tomorrow, there will probably be another opportunity, but it's a sprint that suits us less, I think. If I remember the finish correctly. After that, we'll see.”

It sounds incredible to say, but Groupama have now not won a stage at the Tour de France since Thibaut Pinot’s incredible stage win on the Tourmalet in 2019…six years ago now.

Madiot didn’t hide how much the day had meant to the team. “But no, I'm very disappointed. Very, very disappointed. Frustrated and disappointed, both, because it's a lost opportunity, you know. There was a good card to play today, Saturday.”

With the GC riders keeping the pace high and fewer breakaways sticking, opportunities are slim. Still, Madiot insists they’ll keep pushing.

“We're going to try to get to the restart, but there are a lot of people who want to go for the breakaways, and there are few breakaways who go. So we'll see. Everyone wants to be in front, and then the big guys don't let anything pass. So it's complicated. But that's racing. Anyway, if we don't try, we won't get anything. So we have to try, try to be opportunistic, but it's not easy.”