Cosnefroy beats Alaphilippe to win Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France

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Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2R Citroën Team) won the Bretagne Classic- Ouest-France, outfoxing Deceuninck-Quickstep and Julian Alaphilippe. 

Alaphilippe had attacked on the graveled climb of the Bosse Saoutarlarin, 60km from the finish, and escaped from the peloton with his teammate, Mikkel Honoré, Cosnefroy, and Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates).

Pogačar was dropped shortly afterwards, and though Alaphilippe attacked Cosnefroy repeatedly he was unable to distance his fellow Frenchman, who proved to be the strongest in the final sprint.

“I’m really happy, it’s my first World Tour win,” Cosnefroy said at the finish, “I’ve been waiting for it so of course, it’s brilliant. It was a really exciting race today. It was just me against the two Deceuninck guys at the end. I knew I felt good that I could go with Julian when he attacked. Of course, it’s a different sprint here. I knew I could do something, I was confident.”

I also played my card when I was at the front but I did collaborate with them, I didn’t just leave them to ride. I tried to attack and I would have hoped to go with Julian, but in the end, I was happy to win it how I did. With me, Honoré, and Julian there is no problem at all. We are just representing our own jerseys- that’s racing, there is no personal problem there. I was a bit unhappy at the time but that’s just racing.

How it unfolded

As September creeps ever closer, the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France offered the perfect preparation for those cyclists beginning to hone their form for the upcoming World Championships. Indeed, its route closely resembles the course in Flanders for both are circuit races of similar length with a deceptively large amount of climbing contained within their undulating profile. It was a star-studded start list, accordingly, in the first dress rehearsal of the World Championships.

The breakaway formed within the first hour of racing. Alessandro de Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R Citroën Team) Quinten Hermans (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux), and Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Soudal) escaped up the road but, given the strength of this group, the peloton restricted their lead to under six minutes.

The race’s early tranquillity was punctuated by a crash 169km from the finish. Jumbo Visma’s Chris Harper and Christoph Pfingsten and Movistar’s Gonzalo Serrano and Jorge Arcas emerged from the hedges at the side of the road battered but able to continue. Misfortune struck both these teams 50 kilometres later as Tobias Foss (Jumbo-Visma) skidded on some gravel while navigating a corner, bringing a Movistar rider down too.

In the breakaway, meanwhile, the incessant climbing and fierce pace proved too hard for Grignard and Gougeard who were dropped with just under 100km to go.

On the gravel climb of the Bosse Saoutarlarin, 60km from the finish, the pace increased further as Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) attacked the peloton, and a small group comprised of Alaphilippe, his teammate Mikkel Honoré, Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates), and Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2R Citroën Team) prised themselves away. Alaphilippe was resplendent in his rainbow jersey, Pogačar in his yellow sunglasses, marking them as the world and Tour de France champion, respectively.

Pogačar, however, appeared uncharacteristically uncomfortable, struggling to hold onto the wheels in front of him, and was dropped with 50km to go. Even Pogačar, it seems, is capable of human as well as superhuman feats.

Ahead in the breakaway, Hermans was also dropped; De Marchi initially continued solo but later waited for the Alaphilippe group to catch him.

De Marchi’s day was ended shortly afterwards as Cosnefroy offered the first glimpse of his scintillating form with an attack 22km from the finish. Honoré too was unable to follow this move and only clawed his way back because Alaphilippe refused to work, much to Cosnefroy’s frustration. 

The dangers to each riders’ hopes of victory began to come from without the group, as well as within, as various attacks emerged from the peloton. Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quickstep) marked each attack, to protect his teammates’ lead, and although their time gap fell dramatically, Ballerini did enough to ensure that the victory would be decided among the leading trio of Alaphilippe, Honoré and Cosnefroy.

Alaphilippe launched a trademark attack three kilometres from the finish line on the steepest section of the final climb, the Bosse Pont-Neuf, and still he could not distance Cosnefroy. Honoré fought his way back to lead out his teammate for the sprint but Cosnefroy proved too strong in the end.