David Gaudu called 2025 "the hardest season of his career" as he looks for a reset this year with a new coach and new goals in what will be his 10th year with Groupama-FDJ United.
The French racer battled through injuries, poor form, and missing out on the Tour de France last season, yet he still managed to come away from the year with stage wins at the Tour of Oman and Vuelta a España.
He heads into 2026 with a new coach as Italian Luca Festa comes on board from Cofidis and a search for consistency as he looks to put last year's difficulties behind him.
"Actually, I hit rock bottom this year, so I figure nothing worse could happen to me," Gaudu told L'Equipe.
"[I'm aiming] to get back to my best and find the consistency I've been searching for since 2021. And I know very well that at my level, I'm capable of amazing things.
"This year will be incredibly important for the team with the UCI points resetting, and I know that we finished 17th last year partly because of me... I was a leader, and I didn't do the job. I want to reclaim my leadership role and lift the team."
Gaudu called his 2025 season "a real ordeal", one which went downhill after a positive start in Oman. He'd suffer multiple crashes and a broken hand along the way, eventually missing Tour de France selection for the first time since his rookie season, 2017.
A victory on stage 3 of the Vuelta in Ceres, Italy, went some way to saving a lost season, even if his performances quickly tailed off afterwards.
"It was the hardest season of my career, a real ordeal," Gaudu said.
"It started well in Oman, then disaster struck one after another to the point where I thought there was no point going to the Tour de France in that condition.
"We started preparing for the Vuelta. I didn't come out of it well, but I still had those three incredible days, and then it was hell. I wondered what was happening, how it was possible to go from such highs to such lows... The team struggled to understand, and I struggled to trust them."
Now, he'll have a new coach in Festa after a break from his long-time coach, David Han, while his outlook on training has changed too, with longer and slower rides replacing the more intense efforts he had done in the past.
"I think it's a good thing," Gaudu said of the coaching change. "It's not easy because I've had a very close relationship with David Han since I turned pro; he was almost like a second father to me. But we both understood that the team's decision to change coaches doesn't change our relationship."
For 2026, he'll still be eyeing wins but also taking aim at WorldTour stage race results, having not finished among the top 10 in any of those races in 2025.
"What's really motivated me since turning pro is the World Tour stage races. I want to be there. We haven't set any specific goals yet, but I'd like to finish in the top 10 in at least one of the races I'll be competing in this season," Gaudu said, before thinking back to the bad and good moments on the bike in recent years.
"I try to forget the bad times as quickly as possible. But it's true that if we look back now... There have been more bad than good moments.
"Besides, you can't just consider the victories during the good times: being there at training camps with teammates, laughing around the table, that's part of it too. Cycling has given me friends. It's also taught me about pushing my limits, about hierarchy, about being a teammate and then a leader."
