In his first full season as a professional, Clément Champoussin had a great start and a great end to the season.

He graduated from the AG2R Citroen team training squad last April and made his eye-catching Grand Tour debut at the 2020 Vuelta a España.

He started the season well, finishing 11th in the Tour du Var, 2nd in the Von Ardèche Classic, and 4th in the Trofeo Reigeria.

Conditions deteriorated in the spring, and his Giro d'Italia debut lasted only nine stages, but he took a dramatic stage win on the final day at the Vuelta.

"It was my first full season as a professional, but overall I am happy," Champsin told Cycling News at a recent team training camp.

"It was a good start to the season and a good end to the Vuelta. Overall, for my first full year, it's been mostly good. It's been a lot of peaks and valleys, but I was able to recover at the end of the season after a difficult summer."

Champsin's start to the year was even more impressive considering that he contracted COVID in January. Still, in the ride in Laigueglia, he, Egan Bernal, Bauke Mollema, Mauri Vansevenin, Mikel Landa, and Giulio Ciccone beat each other on the final climb, showing that they already belong at the top level.

"It wasn't a big race at the World Tour level, but it's a course I like and there were some big names," said Landa. I was happy to play my part at the front of the race and attack. It was fun and it gave me confidence. On a good day, you can do good things.

"Usually at the beginning of the year I'm not in great shape; I couldn't ride much in January because of COVID, but I got right back into it."

"I'm not a big fan of the race," he said.

However, Champoussin said he had to pay the price for the lack of base mileage in the winter. He failed to reach his best in the Volta a Catalunya (44th) and the Tour de Romandie (30th), and he was off the pace in the Giro d'Italia, which was supposed to be his first full Grand Tour, as the 2020 Vuelta was only 18 stages long.

The tough opening week conditions did not help, and Champsin struggled and left the race midway through stage 9 due to fatigue.

"I didn't ride much in January, and it affected me later on," he said.

"I was not in good shape in Catalunya. I was not in good shape in Catalunya. In Romandie I was able to get a couple of easy stages and some placings, but I wasn't at the level for the difficult stages or for the GC. So my preparation for the Giro was not good and I was tired. There was no point in struggling."

After a few weeks of rest, Champsin set about building the base he had been unable to establish in January, returning to support Ben O'Connor at the Mont Ventoux Challenge in late June and getting back on track at the Route de Occitanie.

He then returned to the Vuelta as a breakaway hunter and, after several top-five finishes, scored the biggest win of his career on the final stage in Mos.

"After the Giro, I rested and resumed training at an important training camp in July. We laid the groundwork to get back to a good level," he explained.

"Initially, my program for 2021 was just the Giro, but then I said I wanted to go to the Vuelta to finish the season in good shape and keep the Grand Tour in my legs. Luckily I got to go and it worked out."

Champoussin's victory in the Vuelta will long be remembered. The breakaway group was caught by the first group of overall contenders before the final short climb and the breakaway group was doomed. However, Primoz Roglic, Enric Mas, Jack Haig, and Adam Yates stalled in between accelerations, giving hope to the breakaway group.

Ryan Gibbons and Mikel Vizcarra appeared to benefit for most of the climb, but with less than 2km to go, Champoussin suddenly caught up with the small lead group and jumped straight out of the lead group. Champoussin then disappeared.

"It was such a crazy scenario, I couldn't understand what I had done. It seemed impossible to win a stage where I was at the base of the last climb with the favorites. It was totally unexpected."

"I wasn't necessarily going for the break that day, and it was even more surprising because I really wasn't in great shape the day before. But going into the break was easy. I had a good run all day and didn't push too hard. And when the favorites came back, I understood it was a complicated situation where anything could happen.

Champoussin finished his campaign with three fall Italian classics, including the Tour of Luxembourg and Il Lombardia, and after an offseason of rest, he is ready for 2022. He recently completed a team training camp in Spain, building on the base he lacked last year and setting his sights on a second full season.

With Ben O'Connor set to lead the pack in the Tour de France, Champsin's debut is likely yet to come.

"I want to be in two races, Tirreno and Strade Bianche. That's why I'm going to finish the Giro."

"Next year I want to be more consistent. I've already proven that I can run well in World Tour races and I've learned how to better prepare for my goals.