Milan Fretin gave Cofidis a much needed victory and a haul of 200 UCI ranking points at the Clasica de Almeria on Sunday, as the French squad battles for WorldTour survival.
Every sprint, every race and every placing could prove to be vital as Cofidis fight with XDS Astana, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, Picnic-PostNL and Uno-X Mobility for the final placing amongst the 18 WorldTour teams.
XDS Astana have been on a roll in recent races after strengthening their roster for 2025. Fretin responded for Cofidis in Roquetas de Mar with a perfectly-executed sprint and morale-boosting win.
The Belgian made sure he was on the XDS Astana lead in the final kilometre and then took the shortest line on the sweeping curve to the finish, as his rivals were forced to go wide.
Fretin hit the line first, just beating Max Kanter (XDS Astana) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies). Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) was a frustrated fourth after going wide, with Giovanni Lonardi (Polti-VisitMalta) fifth.
Kanter took 150 points for XDS Astana but Cofidis showed they were ready for a fight for every point and with Fretin earned 50 more.
"It was very nervous today. In the last four kilometres we were too far behind but the guys made sure that I could move up and put me in the perfect position. They really did an amazing job, we worked so hard for this all day. This victory is for the whole team," said Fretin.
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“It is important to score as many points as possible. Fortunately, in a race like today, we have someone like Bryan Coquard who can also get extra points.”
How it unfolded
The attacks came from kilometre zero of the 189km race with an attack going clear after five fast minutes of racing.
Victor Vercouillie (Team Flanders-Baloise), Ibai Azanza (Equipo Kern Pharma), Luca Paletti (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) and Arabay, Edgar Curto, Joan Albert Riera and Joan Gamundi (Illes Balears) were in there and soon opened a lead of a minute.
Tudor Pro Cycling Team and Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team rode on the front to make sure the gap never went beyond 2:30, even on the slopes of the l’Alto de Celin climb.
The peloton upped the speed in the second half of the race, with Cofidis and Lotto helping reduce the gap to a minute.
Curto and Gamundi were dropped from the attack with 60km to go as the race passed along the Almeria coast. There was some tension in the peloton but the catch would only come with 10km to race and when the sprinters realised they were in charge of the race.
TotalEnergies, VF Group Bardiani–CSF Faizanè, Q36.5 Pro Cycling, Movistar and Lotto all tried to take charge in the fast final kilometres but all failed, such was the high speed.
Cofidis and XDS Astana hit the front in the final kilometre and Gleb Syritsa launched the sprint for Kanter. XDS Astana had the best line through the easy switching chicane corners and seemed in charge. However Fretin was tucked on Kanter's wheel, realising he had a superb chance of victory.
Kanter kicked a little early and Fretin could wait before launching his own acceleration with 70 metres to go. It was a perfect execution and he held off those trying to do the same trick from behind him.
Stephen is one of the most experienced members of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. Before becoming Editor-at-large, he was Head of News at Cyclingnews. He has previously worked for Shift Active Media, Reuters and Cycling Weekly. He is a member of the Board of the Association Internationale des Journalistes du Cyclisme (AIJC).
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