"We would have been happy pre-race with 7th in the GC before the second rest day" - David Gaudu enters final week with outside podium chance at La Vuelta 2024

With just a week to go at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, Groupama - FDJ leader David Gaudu is sitting 7th overall, 4:39 off the Red Jersey, but more importantly, just 2:16 away from a first ever Grand Tour podium finish.

The day before the rest day, Gaudu put in another positive showing in the mountains, finishing 10th on stage 15 and rising two places in the general classification as a result. “It went very fast from the bottom,” the Frenchman reflects on the final climb in conversation with Groupama - FDJ's official website afterwards. “I may have made a mistake following Mikel Landa when he attacked, but my goal was to hang on until this flat section because I knew that it could take us very far if there were still domestiques. Unfortunately we sat down a bit and shot a bullet for nothing.”

“David was always up there, then the real fight happened on the very difficult final ramps," adds Groupama - FDJ's Thierry Bricaud. “It was a man-to-man battle. It was so difficult that everyone took their place and then climbed at their own pace, but the slopes are so steep that it is difficult to create big gaps”

“He did a solid climb, he is still in the running to do a good general classification and that is the main thing,” continues Bricaud. “From a ranking point of view, it is a good day because he gained two places, but they’re not far behind him either. The last week could be a bit crazy because there are quite a few difficult finishes and there will be a great fight to go for the top positions.”

Gaudu's best ever result at a Grand Tour, is 4th at the Tour de France back in 2022. With a week to go in Spain, it's not completely out of the question he could match or even that result this time around. “I think we would have been happy if we had been told that I would be seventh in the general classification before the second rest day," Gaudu concludes. "It bodes well but we will stay focused until the end.”