The "1990 Generation" of French riders is already to the fore with Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot leading French cycling at WorldTour level, but the generation of climbers born in 1995-1996 is perhaps the next big thing in France, as the Tour de l'Avenir should confirm this week in the Alps.
The French national team on home soil comprises Aurélien Paret-Peintre, winner of the Classique des Alpes as a junior and now part of AG2R La Mondiale's feeder squad in Chambéry, and Léo Vincent, who has signed a neo-pro contract with FDJ. It also includes Cofidis stagiaire Matthias Le Turnier and, currently the most impressive rider of this new wave, David Gaudu - who placed 5th at the Tour de l'Ain among the professional peloton, and will join FDJ in 2017 and 2018.
"We have known each other very well and for a long time," Gaudu told Cyclingnews on Tuesday at the start of the Tour de l'Avenir's time trial stage. "As juniors, Aurélien [Paret-Peintre] was certainly the best of us and since then, leadership has changed all the time. For my part, I was perhaps not the most successful climber but I was consistent and my development was really step by step."
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The Tour de l'Avenir could be Gaudu's way of signing off on his last season in the under-23 category. Racing in a chasing group on Saturday's opening stage in the Auvergne region, he didn't follow his British rival Tao Geoghegan-Hart in a final move and lost two minutes like the rest of the peloton. "At the end we will see if Tao will win the race by two minutes or if he will be tired from his breakaway," Gaudy said. "I perhaps made a mistake. But the true race starts in the mountains."
Gaudu will be supported by a strong French team, although roles can be easily reversed if things take an unexpected turn. The national coach, Pierre-Yves Chatelon, believes "cycling remains a very unpredictable sport". In the same way, it is quite tough to gauge how Gaudu will fare in the pro peloton.
"At his age and in his style he is at the same level as Pinot or Bardet," Chatelon says. "But we can't compare them, everyone is different and we never know how a young rider will adapt to professional level."
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