Cholet Agglo Tour: Jenthe Biermans wins from break after massive pull from teammate Bryan Coquard
Matyáš Kopecký is second and Axel Huens takes third from four-rider break
Benefitting from the work of Cofidis teammate Bryan Coquard, Jenthe Biermans outsprinted his breakaway companions to win Cholet Agglo Tour on Saturday.
Coquard initiated the four-rider break with 18 kilometres to go and then buried himself for his teammate. The move also included Matyáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rochets) and Axel Huens (Groupama-FDJ United), who would take second and third, respectively, as Coquard celebrated his teammate’s victory crossing the line in fourth place.
“I was feeling really good. I saw that Bryan attacked, he was followed, there was a bit of hesitation and I made the jump. So, we ended up with two of us there, which made the finale easier, though we really had to ride hard because the group was almost catching us,” Biermans said.
“In the final three kilometres, he told me, ‘okay, I’ll sacrifice myself for you, after everything you’ve done for me this year.’ I said, ‘okay, I’ll win this for you.’ The plan was perfect and thanks to the whole team.”
“Bryan is a great teammate and a great leader and what he did today, I will never forget. Thanks to him.”
The pack faced a 197km course in and out of Cholet, as part of the FDJ United Series, formerly known as the Coupe de France. The first 150 kilometres looped around the greater urban area on rolling terrain typical of the roads of Maine-et-Loire before returning to Cholet. Then the riders took on a twisty 8km urban circuit a total of five times.
Early in the race, five riders made it into the break, with Victor Jean (Elite Foundations) collecting top KOM points over the 10 categorised climbs. Behind, Unibet Rose Rockets kept a tight leash on the gap, keeping it at around the 2-minute mark for defending champion Lukáš Kubiš.
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The action really started to kick off as the break down to two riders with Léandre Huck (Van Rysel-Roubaix) and Jean, who made their way into the finishing circuit only to be reeled in with 30 kilometres to go.
Around 10 kilometres later, Coquard put in a massive acceleration that was quickly covered by Kopecký, with Biermans and Huens bridging across.
With nine kilometres to go, the quartet held a 19-second advantage over a reshuffling chase group, and managed to stay away.
Results
Pos |
Rider |
Time |
|---|---|---|
1 |
Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Cofidis |
4:27:51 |
2 |
Matyáš Kopecký (Cze) Unibet Rose Rockets |
0:0:00 |
3 |
Axel Huens (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:00 |
4 |
Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis |
0:0:03 |
5 |
Jason Tesson (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:0:06 |
6 |
Lukáš Kubiš (Svk) Unibet Rose Rockets |
0:0:06 |
7 |
Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis |
0:0:06 |
8 |
Emilien Jeanniere (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:0:06 |
9 |
Cesar Macias Estrada (Mex) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:0:06 |
10 |
Thibaud Gruel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:06 |
11 |
Eric Fagundez (Uru) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:0:06 |
12 |
Alfred George (GBr) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
0:0:06 |
13 |
Hodei Muñoz Gabiña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:06 |
14 |
Gari Ugarte Larrea (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:06 |
15 |
Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:0:06 |
16 |
Pierre Gautherat (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM |
0:0:06 |
17 |
Louis Hardouin (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:0:06 |
18 |
Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:0:06 |
19 |
Sergi Darder Gari (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:0:06 |
20 |
Maël Guegan (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:0:06 |
21 |
Xabier Berasategi Garmendia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:06 |
22 |
Matteo Vercher (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:0:06 |
23 |
Joris Chaussinand (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:0:06 |
24 |
Titouan Fontaine (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:06 |
25 |
Daniel Stampe (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:0:06 |
26 |
Olivier le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:06 |
27 |
Viacheslav Ivanov (Rus) Feirense - Beeceler |
0:0:06 |
28 |
Georgios Bouglas (Gre) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:0:06 |
29 |
Tommaso Bessega (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta |
0:0:06 |
30 |
Javier Serrano Rodriguez (Spa) Polti-VisitMalta |
0:0:12 |
31 |
Joren Bloem (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets |
0:0:12 |
32 |
Gorka Sorarrain Agirrezabala (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:0:12 |
33 |
Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:12 |
34 |
Enzo Paleni (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:15 |
35 |
Boas Lysgaard (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:0:15 |
36 |
Louis Sutton (GBr) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:19 |
37 |
Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:0:22 |
38 |
Sebastian Vestergaard (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:0:22 |
39 |
Arnaud Tendon (Swi) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:0:22 |
40 |
Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:0:22 |
41 |
Clement Dubois (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:0:22 |
42 |
Guillaume Bagou (Fra) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
0:0:22 |
43 |
Rémi Capron (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:0:22 |
44 |
Yohann Simon (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:0:22 |
45 |
Simon Guglielmi (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:0:22 |
46 |
Paul Ourselin (Fra) Cofidis |
0:0:22 |
47 |
Clement Izquierdo (Fra) Cofidis |
0:0:27 |
48 |
Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta |
0:0:29 |
49 |
Léandre Lozouet (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:0:33 |
50 |
Victor Papon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:0:35 |
51 |
Tom Donnenwirth (Fra) Groupama-FDJ United |
0:0:35 |
52 |
Axel Mariault (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:0:35 |
53 |
Xabier Isasa Larrañaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi |
0:0:40 |
54 |
Killian Theot (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:0:42 |
55 |
Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:0:52 |
56 |
Francisco Joel Peñuela Sandoval (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:1:06 |
57 |
Baptiste Gillet (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:1:06 |
58 |
Clement Venturini (Fra) Unibet Rose Rockets |
0:1:11 |
59 |
Marcus Sander Hansen (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:1:41 |
60 |
Lucas Beneteau (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:1:41 |
61 |
Mathias Sanlaville (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:1:41 |
62 |
Lorenzo Quartucci (Ita) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:1:47 |
63 |
Baptiste Vadic (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:1:50 |
64 |
Hartthijs de Vries (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets |
0:3:15 |
65 |
Oliver Naesen (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM |
0:3:15 |
66 |
Rasmus Pedersen (Den) Decathlon CMA CGM |
0:3:15 |
67 |
Alexandre Mayer (Mri) Burgos Burpellet BH |
0:3:26 |
68 |
Alexander Konijn (Ned) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:4:17 |
69 |
Léandre Huck (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
0:4:23 |
70 |
Pablo Lospitao Gonzalez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:4:23 |
71 |
Joseba Lopez Cuesta (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:4:23 |
72 |
Clément Davy (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
0:4:38 |
73 |
Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Totalenergies |
0:4:38 |
74 |
Stan Dewulf (Bel) Decathlon CMA CGM |
0:4:38 |
75 |
Andrea Pietrobon (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta |
0:4:38 |
76 |
Théo Delacroix (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:5:32 |
77 |
Axel Bouquet (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:5:32 |
78 |
Similien Hamon (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:5:32 |
79 |
Antoine Berger (Fra) St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 |
0:7:30 |
80 |
Nils Aebersold (Swi) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
0:7:32 |
81 |
Victor Jean (Fra) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
0:9:01 |
82 |
Asger Sørensen (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:9:26 |
83 |
Victor Cesar de Paula (Bra) Feirense - Beeceler |
0:9:46 |
84 |
Andreas Brixen (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
0:9:46 |
85 |
Francisco Pereira (Por) Feirense - Beeceler |
0:9:46 |
86 |
Estanislao Calabuig Vazquez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
0:9:46 |
87 |
Jules Vaugrenard (Fra) Cic Pro Cycling Academy |
0:9:46 |
88 |
Loris Rouiller (Swi) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
0:9:46 |
DNF |
Joao Tomasio (Por) Feirense - Beeceler |
Row 88 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Manuel Peñalver Aniorte (Spa) Polti-VisitMalta |
Row 89 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Gabriele Raccagni (Ita) Polti-VisitMalta |
Row 90 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jahkim Carty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D'Azur |
Row 91 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Victor Johannsen (Den) Bhs-Pl Beton Bornholm |
Row 92 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Aidan Buttigieg (Mlt) Polti-VisitMalta |
Row 93 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Guilherme Mesquita (Por) Feirense - Beeceler |
Row 94 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Antoine Raugel (Fra) Van Rysel Roubaix |
Row 95 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Elia Blum (Swi) Elite Fondations Cycling Team |
Row 96 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Alexandre Montez (Por) Feirense - Beeceler |
Row 97 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Adrian Fajardo Toledo (Spa) Burgos Burpellet BH |
Row 98 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Oliver Knight (GBr) Cofidis |
Row 99 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Matteo Milan (Ita) Groupama-FDJ United |
Row 100 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Ellande Larronde (Fra) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA |
Row 101 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Lorenzo de Longhi (Ita) Campana Imballaggi-Morbiato-Trentino |
Row 102 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Fabien Grellier (Fra) Totalenergies |
Row 103 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Jelle Johannink (Ned) Unibet Rose Rockets |
Row 104 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Abram Stockman (Bel) Unibet Rose Rockets |
Row 105 - Cell 2 |
DNF |
Nate Pringle (NZl) Decathlon Cma Cgm Development Team |
Row 106 - Cell 2 |
DNS |
Harrison Wood (GBr) Feirense - Beeceler |
Row 107 - Cell 2 |
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Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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