If the Breton climber will find it difficult to fulfill the ambitious initial objective which was to grab a place on the podium, he will have succeeded in his Tour thanks to high-flying performances in the Pyrenees behind the infernal duo Vingegaard-Pogacar.

Still fifth in the 18th stage on Thursday, he is more than three minutes behind the third overall, the Briton Geraint Thomas, but is now 2 min 30 sec ahead of the fifth, the Colombian Nairo Quintana.

What to see coming before the last stopwatch on Saturday.

"I would have signed for a fourth place at the start of the Tour, some are choosy but we do not realize the intensity of the effort to finish fourth in the Tour. I am proud of this place", a- he insisted at the finish of the last mountain stage.

"I am told that this is the best result for a Frenchman since 2017", where Romain Bardet finished third, "and the level continues to increase", he added.

Appointed leader of Groupama-FDJ in place of Thibaut Pinot, the 25-year-old Breton was under pressure before the start, but held his rank by running intelligently, refusing to follow the two best when they put the turbo on, to manage his race at his own pace and better return to the end of the passes.

The French rider of Groupama-FDJ, David Gaudu, in the climb of Alpe d'Huez, during the 12th stage of the Tour de France.

Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP

"My fight was not Vingegaard, Pogacar or Thomas. My fight was Nairo (Quintana) and the others", he underlined.

For that, he was able to count on his teammates, Thibaut Pinot first of all who let himself get off the hook to help him after having lost all chance of winning the stage.

Kiss-hand

But also and above all on Valentin Madouas, who again towed him for a good part of the way on Thursday, as so many times since the start of this Tour.

"I fell again with a very big Valentin", applauded Gaudu who, already the day before, had declared that Madouas had "saved his ass" on the climb to Peyragudes and that he had rewarded with a hand kiss to the arrival.

Both a bodyguard and Saint-Bernard de Gaudu, Madouas, 26, is one of the revelations of this Tour after having shone in April with a third place in the Tour of Flanders.

The French rider of Groupama-FDJ, Valentin Madouas, during the inaugural prologue of the Tour de France in Copenhagen, July 1.

Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Versatile rider, tough on pain, the son of Laurent, eight participations in the Tour de France in the 1990s, had prepared for his role alongside a leader to whom he is close.

He was "pleasantly surprised" himself, as he writes in his road book for RFI, because he did not think "to be at this level, probably in the 20 best in the mountains, with great feelings."

The Brestois even almost won a stage, finishing second on Tuesday in Foix.

What to aim higher in the future?

At the start of 2021, Thibaut Pinot presented him as the future leader of Groupama-FDJ, a compliment he finds premature.

In the meantime, the Finisterian, who is continuing his studies at the Brest high-tech and digital engineering school (ISEN), has turned into a luxury sherpa in the service of his leader, while occupying himself even a fine twelfth place overall.

© 2022 AFP