"Never look back, always look straight ahead !"
Raised at the foot of the Monts d'Arrée by a mountain-biking father, David Gaudu was immersed in the world of cycling and the outdoors from an early age. It must be said that with his overflowing energy and his aspiration for the great outdoors, the discipline seemed well and truly made for him.
It was to channel his explosiveness and explore his very promising potential that David joined his very first club at the age of 6: the Landivisienne cyclist. During his annual vacation in Valmeinier in Savoie, he also learns to aim faster, higher, stronger (without wanting to spoil the rest of his career…). There, he tasted the mythical alpine passes and found a vocation that will not leave him to this day: later, he will be a climber.
And David is off to the peaks! His goal ? To equal the prize list of his idol, the Spanish champion Alberto Contador who is one of the 7 riders to have won the three great tours of road cycling.
Outstanding potential and promising beginnings
Tracked by the FDJ team from 2014 – the year of his first selection for the French Junior team – David caught the eye of Marc Madiot, his manager. In 2015, during an exercise test, his VO2max panicked the counters: 92 ml/min/kg. Do these statistics mean anything to you? So trust the team's performance director, Frédérique Grappe, who declared that they were at this stage "unheard of" .
Endowed with a huge engine, David signed his first professional contract at the end of 2016 after his victory in the Tour de l'Avenir of the same year – the benchmark event for international cycling hopefuls. The one who was then nicknamed "the Mosquito", in view of his frail silhouette and his slender legs, changed gear and began to make a name for himself in the industry.
Since then, he has shone in particular with a stage victory in the 2019 Tour de Romandie, his first on the World Tour. Year after year, the young champion never ceases to surprise his peers with explosive performances. In 2020, he finished first in two stages of the Vuelta and 8th in the general classification. In 2021, he placed third in the Ardennes classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège, only beaten in the sprint by star Tadej Pogacar and rainbow jersey Julian Alaphilippe.
"I dream of winning the Tour de France”
Among David's many sporting qualities, we can mention his big character and his steely mind. Nothing scares this runner for whom instinct plays a major role in victory. There is no doubt that it is thanks to this panache which is specific to him, and which does not fail to recall those of the great old-fashioned champions, that he sees his trophy cabinet grow season after season.
In his blue-white-red Groupama-FDJ jersey, David now dreams of shining on the roads of the Tour de France.
Lieutenant of Thibaut Pinot during his first participations, he now wears the costume of leader and intends to honor his colors. Because now, the "Little Prince of Brittany" has everything of a great!
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Because great champions deserve equipment that matches their performance, Julbo has been supporting David since this year to allow him to focus on the essentials: victory. A daily wearer of eyeglasses, David has never been able to find sports glasses that guarantee him good protection as well as relevant visual correction. Together, we have therefore created in our RX laboratory a pair of Ultimate REACTIV sunglasses adapted to his vision to offer him the widest possible field of vision without deformation, whatever the direction of his gaze. Because using Julbo prescription sunglasses means increasing your viewing angle by around 20% compared to conventional sunglasses. “Sometimes we are more than six hours on the bike and with adapted glasses, we save fatigue I am sure . It is a comfort at the level of the head , the vision and the central periphery of the upper body. Each percentage of fatigue gained is an extra percentage that you put on the bike. And every detail counts." |
