Démare makes it three in a row for FDJ.fr
By Jean-François Quénet published
Arch rival Bouhanni second, Europcar's Reza third
Arnaud Démare kept the blue, white and red jersey in the camp of FDJ.fr as he outsprinted his own teammate Nacer Bouhanni. Europcar's Kevin Reza, who originates from the Caribbean islands, finished third to form a symbolic podium showcasing the diversity of the French population. During the soccer World Cup, it's common to highlight the "black-blanc-beur France", which means a multi-racial mix of black, white and Arab people, but such diversity also happened today far away from Brazil in the traditional Poitou region which was hosting road nationals.
"It's really exceptional," Démare said. "Two years ago, Nacer and I finished first and second in the opposite order. We've raced for a bunch sprint finish. We were two sprinters in the team with the same desire of being French champion. Nacer's victories at the Giro d'Italia have boosted me. I understand what he feels now. Two years ago, I was also disappointed to come second but I only had six months of being a pro behind me."
The rivalry between Démare and Bouhanni reached its peak in the only race of the year in which they were supposed to compete in together, only a few days after Bouhanni announced his almost certain departure from FDJ.fr - probably to Cofidis - and was denied a start at the Tour de France.
"Beyond the result, I retain that we had the two best sprinters in the peloton," team manager Marc Madiot said. "I enjoyed the spirit of sacrifice and team work today. I told the riders in the meeting that we all owe that to the four-leaf clover [the emblem of the French lottery] that has supported us for 18 years so far. We had to show more than just an advertising board. Démare and Bouhanni are both great riders. As long as they're on my team, I have the same consideration for all my guys."
As the president of the French professional cycling league, Madiot was called on stage to reward the winners. "He told me that whatever happens in the future, he's proud to have had me in his team," said Bouhanni, who didn't have many offers to turn pro three years ago.
"The team has done a superb work all day today," Bouhanni said. "But I felt less strong than one week ago. At the Route du Sud, I was stronger than at the Giro, but today I stalled and Arnaud was stronger than me, I have to admit it. The one-two finish is wonderful for the team but personally I'm very disappointed."
Two years ago on the dead flat circuit of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, the FDJ team kept the peloton under control for the whole race, but this time around, they had to chase breakaways all day, especially the first one containing 21 riders, including Thomas Voeckler.
"We had an attacking team, so we wanted to create moves," said Reza. "Thomas got caught with one lap to go, but we didn't manage to overtake FDJ in the finale. We've lost against to a team stronger than us. In the sprint, we had some hopes with Bryan Coquard but I think he lost my wheel in a crash with 1.5km to go. The two sprinters from FDJ were untouchable. It's kind of a surprise for me to come third. I'm not a pure specialist of sprinting. I'd like to be given my chance a bit more often."
Once again, Cofidis missed out on the podium, with Julien Simon crossing the line in fourth position. In 18 years of existence like FDJ, they've never won the French championship, but they strongly hope to attract Bouhanni for better results in the future.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Arnaud Démare (FDJ.fr) | 5:44:48 |
2 | Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) | |
3 | Kévin Réza (Team Europcar) | |
4 | Julien Simon (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
5 | Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
6 | Sébastien Hinault (IAM Cycling) | |
7 | Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) | |
8 | Adrien Petit (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
9 | Stéphane Poulhies (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
10 | Tony Gallopin (Lotto Belisol) | |
11 | Jonathan Hivert (Belkin-Pro Cycling Team) | |
12 | Warren Barguil (Team Giant-Shimano) | |
13 | Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
14 | Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
15 | Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ.fr) | |
16 | Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:00:04 |
17 | Mickaël Delage (FDJ.fr) | |
18 | Martin Clement Saint (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
19 | Guillaume Levarlet (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:00:06 |
20 | Yoann Offredo (FDJ.fr) | |
21 | Julien Duval (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | 0:00:08 |
22 | Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr) | 0:00:10 |
23 | Christophe Le Mével (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
24 | Yohann Gene (Team Europcar) | 0:00:12 |
25 | Laurent Pichon (FDJ.fr) | |
26 | Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
27 | Sébastien Turgot (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
28 | Rémy Di Gregorio (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | 0:00:17 |
29 | Theo Vimpere (BigMat - Auber 93) | 0:00:21 |
30 | Morgan Kneisky (Team Raleigh) | |
31 | Maxime Bouet (AG2R La Mondiale) | 0:00:23 |
32 | John Gadret (Movistar Team) | |
33 | Christophe Laborie (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
34 | Romain Hardy (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:00:29 |
35 | Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) | 0:00:33 |
36 | Sébastien Minard (AG2R La Mondiale) | 0:00:39 |
37 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
38 | Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar) | |
39 | César Bihel (Team Differdange - Losch) | 0:01:04 |
40 | Francis Mourey (FDJ.fr) | |
41 | Flavien Dassonville (BigMat - Auber 93) | 0:01:40 |
42 | Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
43 | Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ.fr) | 0:01:43 |
44 | Arthur Vichot (FDJ.fr) | |
45 | Romain Feillu (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | 0:01:46 |
46 | Stephane Rossetto (BigMat - Auber 93) | |
47 | Yoann Bagot (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:02:00 |
48 | Pierre Gouault (BigMat - Auber 93) | 0:02:11 |
49 | Julien Antomarchi (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | 0:02:13 |
50 | Julien El Fares (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
51 | Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ.fr) | 0:02:58 |
52 | Jean Marc Bideau (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
53 | Jérome Pineau (IAM Cycling) | 0:04:05 |
54 | Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
55 | Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) | 0:04:07 |
56 | Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:06:33 |
57 | Jérome Coppel (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
58 | Cédric Pineau (FDJ.fr) | 0:06:41 |
59 | Anthony Geslin (FDJ.fr) | |
60 | Jérémy Roy (FDJ.fr) | |
61 | Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJ.fr) | |
62 | Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ.fr) | |
63 | Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | |
64 | Florian Senechal (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
65 | Romain Lemarchand (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
66 | Matthieu Boulo (Team Raleigh) | |
67 | Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | |
68 | Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
69 | Steve Chainel (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
70 | Florian Vachon (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
71 | Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) | 0:06:44 |
72 | Thomas Rostollan (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
73 | Brice Feillu (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
74 | Lloyd Mondory (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
75 | Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
76 | Alexandre Pichot (Team Europcar) | |
77 | Benjamin Giraud (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
78 | Florian Guillou (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
79 | Romain Sicard (Team Europcar) | |
80 | Christophe Kern (Team Europcar) | |
81 | Angelo Tulik (Team Europcar) | |
82 | Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) | |
83 | Clément Chevrier (Bissell Development Team) | 0:09:12 |
84 | Pierre Moncorge (FireFighters Upsala CK) | |
85 | Thomas Damuseau (Team Giant-Shimano) | |
86 | Julien Bérard (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
87 | Steven Tronet (BigMat - Auber 93) | 0:12:10 |
88 | Christophe Laporte (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | 0:15:45 |
89 | Julian Alaphilippe (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step) | 0:15:47 |
DNF | Grégoire Tarride (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
DNF | Thomas Vaubourzeix (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
DNF | Yoann Paillot (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
DNF | Damien Garcia (Team Differdange - Losch) | |
DNF | Justin Jules (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) | |
DNF | Benjamin Le Montagner (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
DNF | Erwann Corbel (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
DNF | Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
DNF | Frederic Brun (BigMat - Auber 93) | |
DNF | Clément Venturini (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
DNF | Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
DNF | Maxime Renault (BigMat - Auber 93) | |
DNF | Dimitri Le Boulch (BigMat - Auber 93) | |
DNF | William Bonnet (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Yannis Yssaad (BigMat - Auber 93) | |
DNF | Quentin Jauregui (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | |
DNF | Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | |
DNF | Romain Pillon (Roubaix Lille Métropole) | |
DNF | Thierry Hupond (Team Giant-Shimano) | |
DNF | Yannick Martinez (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Damien Monier (Bridgestone Anchor Cycling Team) | |
DNF | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
DNF | Nicolas Baldo (Team Vorarlberg) | |
DNF | Jean-Marc Marino (Cannondale) | |
DNF | Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne - Séché Environnement) | |
DNF | Fabrice Jeandesboz (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Jérôme Cousin (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Alexandre Blain (Team Raleigh) | |
DNF | Arnaud Courteille (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Sébastien Chavanel (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Kenny Elissonde (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Johan Le Bon (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Alexandre Geniez (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Laurent Mangel (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (FDJ.fr) | |
DNF | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Jérémy Bescond (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) | |
DNF | Romain Guillemois (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Vincent Jerome (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Alexis Gougeard (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
DNF | Alexis Guerin (Etixx) | |
DNF | Morgan Lamoisson (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Maxime Mederel (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Damien Gaudin (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
DNF | Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
DNF | Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
DNF | Jimmy Engoulvent (Team Europcar) | |
DNF | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale) | |
DNF | Bryan Nauleau (Team Europcar) |

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