Faultless teamwork by FDJ United-SUEZ and a devastating late attack on the final has seen ultra-talented young racer Célia Gery conquer her first senior French Nationals road title.
Second was Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), five seconds back, with Emilie Morier (St-Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93) claiming the bronze.
For the bulk of the very hilly course at La-Tour-du-Pin, FDJ United had four riders in a front group of around a dozen, and they made their domination count throughout.
Coming onto the final ascent of the ultra-steep Bejui climb, Gery's teammate Juliette Berthet led the 20-year-old racer out, and then an all-out acceleration close to the top was all it took for Gery to go clear. Following a fast, technical solo to the finish, the gold medal was in the bag.
"It was a great race by all seven of us, we only had two riders ahead at the start so we had to get across, and I jumped across to the front group on the hill," Gery recounted later.
"Marie [Le Net, teammate] brought me across after I'd used up a lot of energy and we tried to manage things as best we could."
"I used the final climb, which is really my strong point, I wasn't at all calm, I think I looked back a lot but it's really mission accomplished. I'm not the best of sprinters particularly after a technical finale and descent like this one, so I knew I had to get away before that, and that's what I did."
How it unfolded
The very punchy 16.3 kilometre circuit round La-Tour-du-Pin featured two classified climbs, the gentler Montée de San Roch (1.7 km at 4.4%) then the much more difficult Montée de Bejui (1km at 8.4%, with a maximum of 13%) and the brace of ascents proved more than enough in the early laps to split an already small field of just 37 starters.
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With 80 kilometres left, a 12-rider group was already in command, with no less than four FDJ United-SUEZ racers: Marie Le Net, Juliette Berthet, Léa Curinier, and Célia Gery - the latter two both arriving late to an initial move, and ensuring the lead group had FDJ very much in command. Along with the FDJ quartet at that point were Clémence Latimier (Ma Petite Entreprise), Victoire Berteau (Cofidis), Solène Muller and Emilie Morier (St-Michel-Preference Home-Auber 93), Gladys Verhulst Wild and Amandine Fouquenet (AG Insurance-Soudal Team), as well as Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly).
By the time the front group reached the third ascent of the Montée de San Roch, the leaders had a 1:30 advantage on the remainder of the field. There were some lineup changes - 2025 Tour de France double stage winner Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) made a notably impressive and successful solo effort to get across - but the four FDJ riders remained very much in control.
A typically attritional Championships scenario continued into the final 30 kilometres, although the numbers of around a dozen in the front group stayed roughly the same and FDJ continued to dominate on the baking hot day. A second group was circulating at 40 seconds but by this point, it was increasingly likely that the winner would come from the front break.
Trying to break free of the FDJ United hegemony was always going to be trickier the closer the race got to the finish, so Latimier and Morier both had a try in the second last lap, to no avail. Le Net, the defending champion, had the bulk of the duties keeping the remainder of the rivals under control, and she eventually sat up, leaving her three FDJ teammates to go for their own crack at glory.
On the second-to-last ascent of the Bejui, just six riders remained ahead: Berthet and Gery for FDJ, along with Latimier, Morier, Kerbaol and Squiban. FDJ retained their numerical advantage, then, even in the reduced lead group, and on top of that, Curinier was still shadowing the head of the race as the bell rang to mark the start of the last lap.
Yet again, more attacks tested FDJ's strength, though, with Latimier going for it on the shallower San Roch ascent, only for Berthet, the 2024 National Champion, to bring her back. A brief discussion with Gery then followed, and it was clear from the way Berthet moved to the front to keep the pace high that Gery - already a winner on very similar tough courses like Brabantse Pijl - was going to be the favoured FDJ rider on the day. However, a massive, successful effort by Verhulst Wild to bridge across was a reminder, too, that the gaps were still too small to overthink any plan.
With 11 kilometres to go, Berthet chased down a quick dig by Verhulst Wild, and as she buried herself for Gery and kept the six others lined out on her back wheel, the group settled in to wait for the last, decisive, ascent of the Bejui.
Berthet continued to power up the lower slopes, but Gery was waiting in the wings, finally smashing her way clear with 3.3 kilometres to go. She initially distanced all but Morier, and then by the top, another concerted surge meant Gery had nearly 100 metres' advantage on her closest rival.
That last effort was ultimately all it took to seal the victory, and as she claimed her first senior National title aged just 20, Gery proved yet again that she will likely be a force to reckon with for many years to come.
Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The Independent, The Guardian, ProCycling, The Express and Reuters.
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