Hugo Page is no longer the same runner. Or rather, he has become the rider he was before 2020. In any case, that’s his feeling when he takes a look at his results over the past six months, his first in the World Tour.
His three Top 10s slammed last week during the Critérium du Dauphiné allowed the puncher of the Belgian team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert to access another status: “Of course, if I had been told that I would succeed such a Dauphiné a fortnight ago, I would not have believed it. Now I’m enjoying it, even if I have to get back to work quickly, ”notes the runner licensed as an amateur at ES Auneau, who returned to Chartres on Monday.
The Chartrain Hugo Page hit by another rider in the middle of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré stage
A return to the fold which played an important role in his excellent start to the season: “Since the end of 2021, I have been able to find my bearings. Go back to my family, my friends. My experience at Groupama, even if it was beneficial but where I had to stay for two years in the training center (2020-2021), in Besançon, allowed me to understand that, ”warns the one who will take a apartment in Chartres on the return from the next French road championships, in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire), on June 26.
Van Aert and the others
Plenty of time to digest his exploits of the past week, which saw him wear the green jersey and scrap with sprinters of the caliber of Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma): “It’s sure that finding myself elbow- elbow with runners that I was still watching on TV two years ago, it’s weird. Even if I saw it, he is stronger than me, it’s encouraging, ”adds the Chartrain, who does not wish to return to the incident which opposed him on Friday to the Colombian Molano (finally excluded from the event for hitting Page in the middle of a stage, editor’s note).
Chartrain Hugo Page (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) “wants to hurt the best”
But aware of the path that remains to be traveled. Within his current team? “I am in contract until the end of 2023. Discussions are underway to extend but I cannot say more”, observes the one who appreciates “the club atmosphere” which reigns within his team. “My roommate and mentor, the Belgian Kévin van Melsen, also made my integration a lot easier”, greets the one who has probably opened a new page in his young career in the Dauphiné.
Bio :
20 years. Born on 07-24-2001 in Chartres. 1.85m, 75kg. Profile: puncher.
Club course. Amateur: CS Mainvilliers (2008-2013), ES Auneau (2014-2019).
Professional : Groupama-FDJ Conti (2020-2021), Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (2022).
Principle results : winner of the Tour des Portes des pays d’Othe (2018), French champion of the CLM junior (2019).
Sa saison: 4th in the 1st stage, 5th in the 5th stage and 8th in the 2nd stage of Dauphiné, 5th in the Classic Loire-Atlantique, 14th in the Four Days of Dunkerque.
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David Berthelem
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