Roth wins Tro-Bro Leon

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The Breton crowd was all fired up for a well deserved victory by local rider Eric Berthou of Bretagne-Schuller who came solo out of the dirt roads sections of the Tro Bro Leon, known as the "Hell of the West" one week after the "Hell of the North". But he ran out of gas during the final ten kilometers and got overtaken by chasers Ryan Roth of Spidertech and neo-pro Benoît Jarrier from Vérandas Rideau-U.

With 2.5km to go, the Canadian just rode harder than his exhausted companions and became the first foreign winner of the Tro Bro Leon since Mark Renshaw in 2006. "I'm surprised I've won because I didn't believe we'd ever catch the lone rider [Berthou]," Roth told Cyclingnews. "I thought this would be a good race for our team but personally, my form wasn't as good as what I would have liked."

A Canadian national champion for cyclo-cross in the Junior category twelve years ago, Roth found himself at ease on the Breton dirt roads where his teammate and compatriot Will Routley came second last year to Europcar's Vincent Jérôme. "I had never done this race before," Roth said. "I got injured one year ago just before the Tro Bro Leon but I still came to this race here only to watch and learn for this year."

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"This is the biggest win ever for me," continued the 29-year-old from Kitchener in Ontario. "I've never been on the podium of a race in Europe and this one is very special. It's one of coolest races we do, it's very unique and only once a year we have a race like this. I've been away from home for a long time, so it's a nice reward. After the Tour of Turkey (April 22-29), it'll be nice to go back to Canada with this win."

Roth emerged from a chasing group but runner up Jarrier was in the lead since km 20 with Jacek Morajko (Vacansoleil-DCM), Clément Koretzky (La Pomme-Marseille) and Rémy Cusin (Team Type 1). "I've pushed myself to the limit," Jarrier told Cyclingnews. "If I'd been told in the middle of the race that I'd finished second after that breakaway, I wouldn't have believed it. This is my style though. I often go in breakaways but for once, it worked out. It's a very good result for me. It pays off for all my efforts."

Spectators felt sorry for Berthou who had missed the big opportunity of his career. "But this is cycling," the former Caisse d'Epargne and Crédit Agricole rider said. "I felt hunger flat with ten kilometers to go. I have no regrets."

The Bretagne-Schuller road captain was even caught in the final twenty metres by the first peloton. It gave the Canadian team Spidertech the possibility to have two riders on the podium with Guillaume Boivin taking the third. "I knew this race could suit me," Boivin commented. "With Ryan at the front, I followed wheels in the finale. We have executed the plan at perfection. This is our first win in Europe. We couldn't ask for a better day."

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