EF's Baudin in a joking mood after Tour de France breakaway success: ‘What am I doing here?!’

Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) had an ideal run up to the Tour de France. He recently wore the yellow jersey in the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, showing the good legs that helped him wear the mountains jersey early in this Tour de France. But in Stage 9, he discovered what it’s like to race a final stretch against the very best of the best. The Frenchman finished fourth behind Mathieu van der Poel, Tobias Halland Johannnessen, and Tom Pidcock, and had some telling words to share afterward.

Baudin had been in the race from the start of the day and was therefore eventually part of the lead group, but he quickly realised it wasn't over yet. First of all, because UAE Emirates-XRG was keeping the pace high behind them, but also because he had already expended a lot of energy and was in a very strong breakaway group.

"It was full throttle all day. Seriously, there wasn't a moment to catch my breath. When I made it into the lead group, I completely forgot—I think everyone did, with that heat—that you need time to recover after such a huge effort," said Baudin.

"I actually felt really good. I felt like I was slowing down, but my legs kept going, so I'm glad the breakaway group made it all the way to the finish. But in the end, those three guys with me were just stronger. That's the best I could do," he continues.

Baudin stayed right on the wheel of Van der Poel and the others. “I had mentally prepared myself for about a minute of full-throttle riding on that final climb. I made it over the top with the three guys, and then we all knew we had to work together all the way to the finish, or else they’d catch up to us. So nobody tried to attack. I knew I wouldn’t get a single step ahead on the flat section.”

In the final, the Frenchman even had a brief moment of realization. “During the final, I looked around at the people who were with me and thought, ‘What am I doing here?’” said the rider who ultimately finished fourth in the day’s results.

Team manager Charly Wegelius is proud of his protégé. “We knew it was going to be a tough day. The only thing that really surprised me was the pace the teams set behind the breakaway group. The breakaway never got more than about a minute and twenty seconds ahead, so they were under pressure the whole day. I think that had a big impact on Alex’s breakaway.”

"They had to keep pushing the whole time, right up to the finish, because the teams behind them didn't give them a moment's rest," said the Brit. "Alex's performance was an 11 out of 10. And that goes for the whole team. Everyone is doing exactly what we planned. I can’t predict the future, but the only way to get the most out of the Tour de France is to keep doing exactly what we’re doing: working together, supporting each other, focusing on the right goals, and racing smart.”

"Whether that pays off or not is largely beyond our control. The only thing we have control over is how we navigate this, and I think we're doing a very good job of that," concludes the sports director of the American team.