We can say that the roads of Gabon smile at Geoffrey Soupe! The 34-year-old rider won the second victory of his professional career on the Tropicale. The rider of the Total Energies team is what is called a model team member, more often confined to the role of pilot fish to lead sprinters, always ready to sacrifice his chances for the success of the team. Until this week, his record included only one line, in 2011, during his first race among the elite. And it was already a stage of the Tropicale! Today, he is doing better since in addition to a bouquet gleaned from Oyem last Monday, he leaves with the leader’s yellow jersey. A satisfaction for him: “It’s extraordinary and a bit unexpected, the team came with ambitions, but without having a predefined leader at the start. We have tried to take the race day by day, in order to leave the door open to all runners. The idea was to attack to get stage wins. That’s what we managed to do, and the yellow jersey is the embodiment of this collective work. »
If the last stage – 133 km between Cap Esterias and Libreville, with a final circuit in the streets of the Gabonese capital – goes to the Dane Alexander Salby (Bingoal WB), who wins in the sprint ahead of Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea) and Sergei Rostovtsev (Beykoz), we can say that the Total Energies team managed to do well by winning three stages as well as the general individual and team classification. It must be said that the formation led by Jean-René Bernaudeau is a regular in the race, it is even the most loyal team of the Tropicale, where it has been present since 2008. “We know the Tour of Gabon well, that the team has come here 14 times, recalls the manager of Total Energies. I am happy that the Tropicale exists, because it is one of the only races in the world which offers an intelligent mix between the selections of this great continent that is Africa and the professional teams. I think in particular that if we see Eritrean riders today in major competitions like the Tour de France, it’s thanks to the Tropicale. This creates a healthy emulation. Despite two canceled editions, we see that Eritrea and Rwanda are still there, the Maghreb countries which are waking up, those of West Africa who are watching all this with wide eyes, and it is up to the pro teams to help them. »
And it is in particular for this that Jean-René Bernaudeau does not understand that the other professional teams present in the race have used headsets, allowing them to be in permanent contact with the team car. “Already, I’m against it historically, but even more so when you come to race here in Africa! We are already well equipped, we organize courses, we have ergonomists, physiologists… We have everything we need to perform at the highest level in the world, and I find that adding the headset is indecent. »
The professionals left on Sunday evening to launch their season in Europe. As for the African formations, most of them have taken the direction of Mauritania, to compete in the Tour du Sahel, which begins on Wednesday. Before competing in the African Championships in Accra, Ghana, from February 8 to 13…
