Mourey leads FDJ podium sweep in Tro-Bro Leon

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The 24 sectors of graveled roads of the Tro Bro Leon have crowned the seven-time French cyclo-cross champion Francis Mourey. The the FDJ team made up for its back luck in Paris-Roubaix where Yoann Offredo and Matthieu Ladagnous crashing badly, and captured all three spots on the final Tro Bro Leon podium with Johan Le Bon and Anthony Geslin to complete the triumph.

"On the road, this is my nicest win ever," said Mourey who only scored the second win of his road career nine days ago at the last stage of Circuit de la Sarthe. "But nothing is as high in my heart as my French champion titles for cyclo-cross. It's a big day for FDJ. Everything happened just as planned at the team meeting this morning."

Geslin who already finished third at the Tour du Finistère the day before was designated to make the early move, so he did in the 18-man breakaway with his teammate Laurent Pichon, who was unfortunate to puncture at the worst moment when a counter-attack comprising Mourey and Le Bon was about to bridge the gap. With 30km to go, FDJ outnumbered the rest of the field with three riders out of seven at the front, the others being Gert Joeaar (Cofidis), Rémi Cusin (IAM Cycling), Cyrille Lemoine (Sojasun) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Bretagne-Séché).

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"Francis [Mourey] was so strong that I suggested to him to go solo with twenty kilometers to go," Geslin explained. "Two kilometers later, he did it. In the last lap, I told Johan [Le Bon] to attack and to pull the sprint for me if he wasn't successful but he made it through the line, so it was down to me to assume the responsibilities for the triple crown. It's rare to get a 1-2-3 in such a race."

"It feels really good to cap off the nice beginning of the week for FDJ [after the victories of Pierrick Fédrigo at Paris-Camembert and Arnaud Démare at the GP Denain]," Le Bon echoed. "I hope one day I'll win this race as my father [Dominique] did [in 1986], but today, Mourey was above everyone."

"Thanks to my teammates [Geslin and Pichon] at the front, I managed to save energy in the first part of the race," Mourey said. "On the gravel roads, I kept a good speed in all the curves. I knew I had what it took to stay up front on my own. After the cyclo-cross season, I took a good rest, mentally and physically. I only have to do long rides because I've done the intensities in cyclo-cross and in road races. I've found the right rhythm."

After the Tour de Romandie and the Giro d'Italia, Mourey will be back in Lannilis for the French championship that will also feature some graveled roads for the first time ever. "I wish I could do what my boss Marc Madiot has, and become French champion in both road racing and cyclo-cross," Mourey said. "But I firstly hope that I'll be able to play an important role for FDJ to keep the blue, white and red jersey. In any case, I'll be happy to come back. I won the French championship for cyclo-cross on two occasions close to here. It feels good to have the support of a crowd that knows cycling very well and loves it."

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