Valentin Madouas wins Bretagne Classic-Ouest France

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Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) came out on top in a four-rider sprint to claim the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France, his first WorldTour Classic win of his career, after finishing second at Strade Bianche and fifth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this year. 

The French champion deliberately dropped behind the other riders in the select front group before launching his sprint with 200 meters to go. Not able to get on his wheel, Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) pushed hard but had to settle for second and third respectively. 

Madouas’ teammate Stefan Küng, who spent 80 kilometres in the front, and 20 of those solo, before being joined by an elite group of chasers, took fourth.

The quartet broke away from a reduced peloton of about 20 riders in the traditional finishing circuit in Plouay. 

“I don’t know what to say. I’m really moved. Winning at Plouay, with this jersey, is really extraordinary, it was a dream to win here in my career, in addition with the French champion's jersey. What more could you ask for?”, said an emotional Madouas at the finish. He is the first Breton rider to win on home soil since 1992.

“I had good feelings but not extraordinary either,” he added. “I knew the sprint by heart, I told myself that I had to come from behind, I played with them a bit and Stefan buried them well in front.”

How it unfolded

Centered around Plouay, the 258.3km course delivered a loop of tough, selective racing in Brittany with 4,235 metres of elevation before the finish line. The early kilometres were marked by the two-rider breakaway of Aaron Van der Beken (Bingoal WB) and Alessandro Tonelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) while Alpecin controlled the front of the peloton. 

The duo was reeled back in under 95 kilometres to go, just as the hills came hard and fast, starting with Ty Coz with its maximum ramp of 12%.

Taking advantage of the 800-metre gravel section Mick van Dijke (Jumbo-Visma) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) pulled away with 80km to go. The pair worked together to establish a gap hovering around the one-minute mark while  Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Gianni Moscon (Astana Qazaqstan) gave chase temporarily.

In the peloton, Soudal-Quick Step did the majority of the pacemaking with assistance from UAE Emirates and INEOS Grenadiers. 

With 32 kilometres to go, Küng continued solo with a minute lead to the field as Van Dijke faded. Attacks started to come one after another in the peloton, starting with Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) who tried a few times to get away but was reeled back in.

The attacks and the leg-sapping climbs took their toll, reducing the peloton to around 25 riders. Riders going off the back included Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma)

Küng had a gap of 35 seconds as he climbed Marta (900m at  9%) with ramps of 13%., while Tiesj Benoot (Junbo-Visma) did a lot of work shutting down attacks in the field.

Benoît Cosnefroy launched a decisive move with 20km to go. He was soon joined by Felix Großschartner  (UAE Team Emirates), Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), Jai Hindley (BORA-hansgrohe), Alex Aranburu (Movistar), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) and they connected with Küng. 

A group of chasers, including Benoot, Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Dstny), Frederik Wandahl (BORA-hansgrohe) swelled the number to 20 riders as they entered the short 11.7km finishing circuit. 

Küng, Madouas, Burgaudeau, Großschartner and Wandahl managed to break away but the Côte du Lézot (1km at 6%) followed by the short and steep Kerscoulic (225m at 8.9%) were too much for Wandahl, leaving the four riders at the front to battle for victory.

Crossing the line 17 seconds later, De Buyst took fifth from the chase group ahead of Hirschi and Benoot.

World champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crossed the finish line over eight minutes later.

Results

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