"I do not come to do worse than last year," warned the Breton rider of Groupama-FDJ Friday at a press briefing, extended by an interview with AFP.

In front of such a presentation, some would cry unconscious, given the ogres at the start Sunday in Bruges like Wout Van Aert, Tadej Pogacar or Mathieu van der Poel. But for Madouas, 26, it is only the logical corollary of a continuous progression since his beginnings, in parallel with engineering studies.

"I'm coming to my best years," he says. I feel stronger. I have taken another step forward on consistency. I have experience now and confidence is starting to come."

Since his third place on the "Ronde", the Finistérien has multiplied the blows of brilliance with in particular a sparkling Tour de France, concluded in eleventh place in a role of Saint-Bernard for David Gaudu.

His start to the 2023 season is just as solid with a second place at the Stade Bianche.

It remains to transform the test.

"I know I'm still missing a great win," he said. I have many places of honour. I'm on almost all the classics in the top 10 on the pedal. Now it's up to me to make things happen and try things, maybe by taking the risk of missing a podium to get a great victory."

Valentin Madouas on March 4, 2023 in Siena on the second place of the podium of the Strade Bianche. "Now it's up to me to concretize and try things, maybe by taking the risk of missing a podium to get a great victory," said FDJ-Groupama © rider Marco BERTORELLO / AFP/Archives

The Tour of Flanders would be the perfect place.

His father "didn't like it at all"

The Brest has "no particular attachment" and his father Laurent, eight participations in the Tour de France in the 1990s, never brought him on the cobbled mountains.

"He didn't like it at all. It must be said that we do not have the same size at all. He was my weight but ten centimeters more. He was a pure climber," laughs the son.

But he has always been attracted by Flanders and its special atmosphere. "It's really a very special race. We feel an extraordinary fervor. Flemish TV is live three days before the race," he enthuses.

His first two participations, in the Covid era, took place without an audience. During his third, in 2022, he discovered "a completely crazy atmosphere" with "the faces of the spectators flush with the pavement". "We're talking about a million people on the course. It wouldn't surprise me because there are so many everywhere."

Valentin Madouas (left) on April 3, 2022 at the finish of the Tour of Flanders, beaten on the line only by the Dutchmen Mathieu van der Poel and Dylan van Baarle © ERIC LALMAND / BELGA/AFP/Archives

So to become the fourth Frenchman to win the "Ronde" after Louison Bobet (1955), Jean Forestier (1956) and Jacky Durand (1992) would be "extraordinary, necessarily".

"Having bac + 5, it helps on the CV "

"I know what it costs to win the Tour of Flanders. It was already huge to get on the podium. I was surprised at the fallout. There can be nothing more beautiful than winning a Monument against the best."

He obviously knows that he is not the number one favorite. "The three (Van Aert, Pogacar, Van der Poel) are a little bit stronger and so we will have to race fairer than them."

But "the condition is good" and "all the lights are green," adds Madouas who, given the terrible weather, was content with a home-trainer session with his team on Friday.

And if he doesn't want to smile on Sunday, he will come back, quietly. Already that he is "not stressed at all" by nature, he is now also advancing "freed from a huge weight mentally" after completing his studies at the School of High Technology and Digital Engineering of Brest (ISEN).

"Having a bac + 5 helps on the CV. I know I have a background that will allow me to do almost anything I want," he says. Maybe I could have gained a year or two in terms of physical maturity without the time spent studying. But I'm not even sure. And I think my best years, I'll be able to last them longer than some of them."

© 2023 AFP