David Gaudu new wearer of the red jersey of leader of the Vuelta

Wearing the leader's jersey of a Grand Tour is sometimes a matter of very little. David Gaudu experienced this for himself on Tuesday, August 26, in Voiron (Isère), when he took the red jersey of the Vuelta a España after the ^4th stage, won by British sprinter Ben Turner.

At the same time as Jonas Vingegaard after his success in the ^3rd stage on Monday, the Frenchman had to beat the Dane by adding up all the places obtained since the start to take the leader's jersey. Specifically, Gaudu had to finish this ^4th stage (206 kilometers between Susa, in Italy, and the city of Isère) at least eight places ahead of Vingegaard to don the red jersey.

The leader of the Groupama-FDJ team therefore got involved in the final sprint, which he finished in ^25th place, while Vingegaard crossed the finish line in ^42nd position. Mission accomplished. "It's the first and last time I'm going to do that [a bunch sprint]," Gaudu said, all smiles, on Eurosport. "Taking the [leader's] jersey in France is a nice nod. It's going to be great to wear it [on Wednesday, during the ^5th stage, a 24.1-kilometer team time trial around Figueres (Spain)]. We've been working on this exercise, we'll see how it goes."

Unaccustomed to participating in the final stages, the French climber-puncher emerged at the head of the peloton a few hundred meters from the finish, while Vingegaard – no doubt not unhappy to escape the long post-stage protocol obligations by relinquishing the leader's jersey – adopted a more cautious approach. Gaudu only had to stay at the front to achieve his objective, which he succeeded in doing.

"Even if it's 'only' the Vuelta, it's a lot of emotion," explained the French rider once the red jersey was on his shoulders. "I still had no certainty about my level three days ago."

This Tuesday, Gaudu's joy was matched only by that of Britain's Ben Turner, who won the stage despite his team, Ineos Grenadiers, only inviting him to participate in the Vuelta a España at the last minute, forcing him to abandon the Tour of Benelux. "It's been a crazy week, " he explained to the Vuelta organizers. "The team believed in me and did an extraordinary job to allow me to do this sprint in the best conditions." Ben Turner beat the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, winner of the first stage of this Vuelta on Saturday in Novara, Italy, in the sprint.