Leading French GC contender David Gaudu has confirmed that he will be missing the Tour de France this year due to poor form.
The Groupama-FDJ leader is the second top French name to announce this week he will not be taking part in his home Grand Tour after one-day specialist Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) already said earlier this week he would not be taking part in either the Nationals or the Tour because of an ongoing knee injury.
Fourth in the Tour de France back in 2022 and ninth in 2023, Gaudu had been set for his eighth Tour participation this July and was expected to be one of the key home names to watch in the upcoming race.
However, after former Tour de France podium finisher Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL) already announced he was retiring from road racing after one last Dauphiné in June, Gaudu, 28, will be another familiar French face missing from the running come July.
"Given my current level, I've been honest with the team. In any case, they have my data and we've decided together to miss out on the Tour this year," he told AFP.
"To race just to finish, there's no point in that."
Being on the start line in Lille on July 5 would have meant Gaudu would be taking part in his second Grand Tour of 2025. He took 66th in the Giro d'Italia this May, and barring being in a couple of breaks to no lasting effect, he barely featured in the race action. He finished the Giro, as he put it to AFP, "completely exhausted."
As for missing out on the Tour, "It's hugely disappointing," he said. "Particularly as the race goes through Britanny this year and my relatives were going to come see me there."
After an early triumph in the Tour of Oman boded well for the rest of the season, Gaudu explained that he has been chasing form all year, with four crashes so far this season and a fractured hand injury in Tirreno-Adriatico making his season much more complicated.
"I held back on a decision until the last weekend to do a training camp, do some mountain climbs and exercises off the bike. But my feelings still aren't good," Gaudu said.
Gaudu's non-participation comes hard on the heels of the news that another top French racer, allrounder and one-day specialist Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) will also be missing the Tour.
The former GP de Québec and Bretagne Classic-Ouest France winner crashed and injured his knee on stage 1 of the latest edition of the Tour de Suisse.
While France has lost two of its top names for its home Grand Tour, Gaudu's missing his country's biggest race is just the latest non-participation drama for Groupama-FDJ to handle. Earlier this week, it was announced that Swiss time trial and Classics specialist Stefan Küng would not be taking part in the upcoming Championships, where he is defending TT champion, because of a training crash.
As for Gaudu, it remains to be seen how he will salvage something from the season. Last year, he finished sixth in the Vuelta a España, where he also won two stages in 2020, and – although the rider has said nothing so far in that regard – it hasn't yet been ruled out that he will return to the Spanish Grand Tour this August.
Longer-term, when Gaudu re-signed for Groupama-FDJ this spring until the end of 2027, he said the next two seasons would be his last ones as a team leader.
Meanwhile, Groupama-FDJ will aim for a top ten on GC and a stage win with their new signing for 2025, Guillaume Martin, who recently finished 10th overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné, said team boss Marc Madiot.
"Like many teams in the 'soft underbelly' of the World Tour peloton, our main goal is to secure a stage victory," the veteran manager told Cyclism'Actu. "Then, to be as close as possible to the best, especially with Guillaume Martin.
"We have a good, cohesive team, and we hope to achieve good results, continuing what we showed at the Tour de Suisse. By combining the lessons learned from the Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse, we should be well equipped.
"Guillaume is a very good stage racer. He asserts himself over time and with the wear and tear of the peloton. He perfectly met our expectations this week in the Dauphiné. He may not be a very spectacular rider at first glance, but he's tenacious and mentally very strong. He never gives up. I'm certain he'll bring us great satisfaction in the Tour de France."
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