Matthews wins Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France

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Michael Matthews (Sunweb) took a convincing win in the Bretagne Classic ahead of Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) with Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck - Quick Step) in third.

The race was peppered with attacks throughout the final 100km of racing but it came down to a cagy sprint finish from a small group after Matthew’s teammate Nils Eekhoff split the field with a strong surge before the line. The Dutch rider’s efforts almost proved too much after he went clear with Sénéchal, but he eased up just before the sprint to allow Matthews back into the fray.

In the sprint, there was little contest with Mezgec going early before Matthews came off his former teammate’s wheel and switched to the other side of the road.

"Luca had to go early in the sprint so I could wait. I just timed my sprint to perfection, I guess," Matthews said at the finish.

"After my crash in Milan-San Remo it was difficult for my head. I knew that I had really good shape but to come back here, for my second race after lockdown, I'm really happy."

Matthews was a thoroughly deserving winner. He used up as little energy as possible in the closing stages, and held off the temptation to jump into any of the dangerous attacks before the finish. His team, to their credit, were tactically astute with first-year pro Eekhoff lifting the pace in the finale before Matthews came through to take his first win since the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec last September. 

The 29-year-old can now add another WorldTour win to is growing palmares before he takes a break and returns for both Tirreno-Adriatico and then the Giro d'Italia.

How it unfolded

The main action began when Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Floris De Tier (Alpecin-Fenix), Joey Rosskopf (CCC Team), Will Clarke (Trek-Segafredo), Zhandos Bizhigitov (Astana), and Alexander Cataford (Israel Start-Up Nation) formed the early break and quickly established a three-minute lead over the peloton. The race had started under a cloud after the entire Bora-hansgrohe squad had pulled out after one of their riders tested positive for COVID-19. That didn’t hamper the action as EF Pro Cycling, and UAE Team Emirates held the break and slowly reduced the lead to under 1:20.

Cavagna, clearly the strongest, but also more concerned with the number of Watts he could produce, rather than the number of friends he could win in the peloton, attacked through the feedzone inside the last 80km with only Rosskopf and De Tier able or willing to mount any form of chase.

With 45km to go the Deceuninck rider was caught as the peloton saw wave after wave of attacks reduce the gap. A few kilometres later, Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal), Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and Albert Torres (Movistar) made a move and the trio at least managed to create some daylight between themselves and the peloton. The group, however, were soon caught, with Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) countering alongside Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates).

Once more the peloton brought the leading group back into their clutches, before another round of attacks reduced the main field to less than 45 riders. Scott Thwaites (Alpecin-Fenix) attacked with purpose with 13km to go but he was overhauled by Romain Seigle (Groupama-FDJ) and then Victor Lafay (Cofidis) as Henao and the rest of the UAE Team Emirates looked to set up their fast finisher, Jasper Philipsen.

Sénéchal attacked on the final climb but Sunweb still had the numbers to not just bring him back, but also eliminate most of Matthews’ opposition. They almost gave the win away in the finale but Matthews and Eekhoff combined to take the team’s first win since a stage in Paris-Nice, back in March.