"Bastien who?" Many looked at each other with questioning eyes, while Bastien Trunk the favourite Pavel jumped Sivakov to go and win the third stage of the Return to Burgos in Villarcayo. Because French is an intern, currently promoted to the first team of theAG2R Citroen. And seeing a kid among the greats who even goes on to win is a very rare thing, the last Frenchman to have succeeded was Jean-Eudes Demaret, at the Tour du Poitou Charentes in 2007, for the Française des Jeux, in Italy Riccardo had succeeded Rich in 2005, a stage at the Giro di Toscana. Or Battaglin in 2011 at the Sabatini Cup.
Surprised? Yes, but then, on closer inspection, not so much. Knowing Tronchon's story, we realize we're talking about a predestined one. After all, he was born in Chambery, which in France is almost a temple of cycling, also the scene of world cycling competitions. and it was in Chambery that he began his adventure, arriving at La Motte Servolex, a local team that is also one of the many branches of AG2R. His fate was sealed, and he went through the entire process with the French team, reaching the Under-23s and, for the Spanish match, even the first team.
On the run for Champoussin
"I don't know what to say, I feel like I'm floating on a cloud..." Tronchon struggled to grasp what he'd accomplished on the Spanish roads, but then, speaking to journalists, he relived his magical day—the last one, not the only one—and we'll see why later.
«I really wanted to start an escape – he said – for represent my team up front and be a point of reference for Champoussin if he wanted to try the offensiveAt the attack of Picon Blanco the others started to attack, I continued with my pace and I did well, I saved my leg and I found myself in front at the end with the Iberian Nicolau, but from behind were found two sacred monsters like Pavel Sivakov and Miguel Angel Lopez. You feel very small seeing what they have under their pedals, I never thought I could stand out with such riders.
"On the descent, Sivakov was flying. I gave him space to choose the right lines, but I could see he was going away. I had to push, I had to take even more risks. I stayed on his wheel, he asked me for changes but if I had given them to him he would have dropped me, the tank was almost empty… I followed the instructions of the flagship, then he ran for the general, I didn't… When we were left in two I told him I would cooperate, but he didn't trust me anymore.I was confident in my top speed and I did well."
We start again from a… gran fondo
Let's rewind the tape, because this victory, if you look closely, is like a reward for a season as important as it was difficult. We had also seen Tronchon in Italy, winning the Giro della Provincia di Biella for Under 23s, Yet another representative of the youthful transalpine cycling scene that is producing so many talented riders who come here to win and highlight our parallel struggles. Then, however, on May 15th, the blow came: a terrible crash on the second stage of the Tour du Loiret. The initial reactions were dire: triple clavicle fracture and scattered fractures to the elbow, wrist and scapulaThen the X-rays pardon him: the clavicle is damaged as expected, but the rest is intact.
The recovery is gradual, and for his return, Tronchon chooses a special race, or rather, a granfondo. And what a granfondo: L'Etape du Tour, 170 kilometers with 4.700 meters of elevation gain, including climbs of the Galibier, the Croix de Fer, and, for good measure, the ascent and finish at Alpe d'Huez. Tronchon, faced with such magnificence, was elated, lost among over 11 cyclists, including many elite riders like himself, lost in the crowd. The enthusiasm had infected him so much that he reached the top of the Galibier in the lead with a couple of minutes' advantage: "I hadn't realized how I was doing, but then I realized I was overdoing it. And who had ever traveled so many kilometers…».
Lavenu felt it…
The others recovered, but Tronchon still finished among the top 15. There, however, the order of arrival was a mere detail: «I had a blast, it was one of the greatest days of my cycling life., so much so that I didn't even take it personally for what happened next."
Tronchon wanted to share his joy with his parents, but the descent from the finish line was forbidden: «So I found myself having to climb the Col de la Sarenne to get to the other side, go around and reach them. I understood in those moments, while I was pedaling, how lucky we are to be in teams that think of everything and how difficult the staff's work is, who have to arrange everything to make us think only about pedaling."
This humility, this awareness, also make Tronchon a prospect of great future. Gilbert Lavenu He has known it for a long time and was really the least surprised in Villarcayo: «I have known him since he was little, in the satellite club of Chambery. I knew that when he was in front he could do it because He's someone who knows how to win and has already demonstrated it.His performance is an excellent example to follow."
In fact, the next day, victory for the Slovenian Govekar, trainee at Bahrain Victorious in front of Tronchon's teammate, Retailleu (the one who took bronze in Oran). In the face of the big names...
