Cavagna solos to French men's road title
Deceuninck-QuickStep rider wins by 58 seconds ahead of Molard and Touze
Rémi Cavagna delivered Deceuninck-Quick Step's second French national road race title 10 years after Sylvain Chavanel and three days after a big disillusionment due to mechanical problems in the individual time trial for which he was the defending champion.
The 25-year-old won by 58 seconds after a lone attack from 14 kilometres out in poor conditions on the hilly course. Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) and Damien Touze (AG2R Citroen) rounded out the podium after winning the sprint from a reduced chase group.
"I don't realize what's happening," said Cavagna, interviewed by French national team manager Thomas Voeckler. "My goal was the time trial. I was the favourite and I came for winning. I was very disappointed. It was a slam in my face. I know there were circumstances and problems…
"However, today we were a team of only three riders with Julian [Alaphilippe] and Florian [Sénéchal] but a super team anyway. Our tactic was for me to be ahead if a numerous group was formed at the front. When I heard that Julian was coming across, I could take it easy for a while after I rode a lot in the breakaway. At the last feeding, I heard some encouragement so I took my chance and it worked out."
Cavagna took place in the leading after 30km of racing, along with Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic), Jérémy Leveau (Xelliss-Roubaix-Lille Métropole), Rémy Rochas and Victor Lafay (Cofidis), Matthieu Ladagnous, Simon Guglielmi and Molard (Groupama-FDJ), Geoffrey Bouchard and Touzé (AG2R-Citroën), Alexis Guérin (Vorarlberg), Jérémy Cabot and Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies).
They got a maximum time gap of five minutes at half way. With 35km to go, Sénéchal put the hammer down, launching a strong attack for Alaphilippe. Only David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën) managed to follow the world champion. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) reacted with a slight delay. Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) and Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo) made it across.
The 7-man chasing group missed being reunited with the 14 leaders by a mere thirty seconds due to the presence of Alaphilippe. After they got reeled in by the remaining of the peloton on the rain soaked demanding circuit of Epinal, Madouas and Cosnefroy attacked. Martin reacted, again with a slight delay.
Once the trio bridged the gap, Cavagna was gone solo at the beginning of the last lap with 14km to go. He could power on his favourite time trial mode to collect the white, red and blue jersey that will not be featured on the roads of the Tour de France as the 'TGV of Clermont-Ferrand' – his nickname – pursues further goals after having ridden the Giro d'Italia and missed out on the last stage victory due to a crash in the last curve in Milan. The time trial of the Tokyo Olympics is one of them.
In between Chavanel and Cavagna, Groupama-FDJ settles for seven French titles for road racing out of nine.
"We outnumbered the other teams in the front group", Molard said. "I knew the team would put faith in me but Rémi was too strong. He attacked at the right place in the feed zone. We never managed to bring him back.
"We came to defend our jersey. We rode well, tactically speaking with giving Gaudu and Madouas the possibility to play their cards in case of a regrouping. It's a pity to come second. But we'll come back for another jersey in the team."
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 6:06:10 |
2 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:00:58 |
3 | Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
4 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
5 | Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
6 | Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis | 0:01:02 |
7 | Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:01:04 |
8 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | |
9 | Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:01:05 |
10 | Alexis Guerin (Fra) Team Vorarlberg | 0:01:33 |
11 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:02:14 |
12 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
13 | Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:02:18 |
14 | Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:02:19 |
15 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) Total Direct Energie | 0:02:21 |
16 | Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis | 0:03:18 |
17 | Clément Berthet (Fra) Delko | 0:03:43 |
18 | Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis | 0:04:15 |
19 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie | 0:04:22 |
20 | Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
21 | Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Delko | |
22 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
23 | Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
24 | Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
25 | Olivier Le Gac (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:04:26 |
26 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | 0:04:28 |
27 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:04:45 |
28 | Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo | |
29 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
30 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
31 | Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
32 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
33 | Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
34 | Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
35 | Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
36 | Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
37 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | 0:04:48 |
38 | Florian Senechal (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep | |
39 | Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:05:16 |
40 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:08:31 |
41 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
42 | Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:09:05 |
43 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
44 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
45 | Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM | |
46 | Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis | |
47 | Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
48 | Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
49 | Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
50 | Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
51 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
52 | Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko | |
53 | Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | |
54 | Matis Louvel (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
55 | Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
56 | Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation | 0:12:13 |
57 | Antoine Huby (Fra) | |
58 | Hugo Page (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
59 | Aloïs Charrin (Fra) Swiss Racing Academy | |
60 | Lucas De Rossi (Fra) Delko | |
61 | Clément Carisey (Fra) Delko | 0:13:24 |
62 | Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:15:44 |
63 | Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
64 | Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis | |
65 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
66 | Robin Meyer (Fra) Nippo-Provence-PTS Conti | |
67 | Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nippo-Provence-PTS Conti | |
68 | Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | |
69 | Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
70 | Pierre Latour (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
71 | Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
72 | Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
73 | Matthieu Jeannes (Fra) Team Illuminate | |
74 | Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
75 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis | |
76 | Alexys Brunel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
77 | Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
78 | Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
79 | Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis | |
80 | Antoine Raugel (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
81 | Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
82 | Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
83 | Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
84 | Enzo Paleni (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
85 | Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
86 | Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation | |
87 | Mickaël Crispin (Fra) | |
88 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
89 | Rémi Lelandais (Fra) | |
90 | Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Delko | |
91 | Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
92 | Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
93 | Maxime Cam (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
94 | Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Cofidis | |
95 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
96 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
97 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
98 | Donavan Grondin (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
99 | Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
100 | Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
101 | Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
102 | Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
103 | David Menut (Fra) | |
104 | Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
105 | Jordan Levasseur (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
106 | Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
107 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
108 | Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | |
109 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
110 | Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
111 | William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
112 | Nathan Vandepitte (Fra) Bingoal WB | |
113 | Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
114 | Alan Boileau (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
115 | Thomas Denis (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
116 | Valentin Ferron (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
117 | Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
118 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
119 | Louis Coqueret (Fra) Leopard Pro Cycling | |
120 | Lorenzo Serres (Fra) Cambodia Cycling Academy | |
121 | Sacha Bietry (Fra) Team Novo Nordisk | |
122 | Nils Marin (Fra) | |
123 | Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
124 | Ugo Ananie (Fra) | |
125 | Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | |
126 | Christopher Lamaille (Fra) Cambodia Cycling Academy | |
127 | Thomas Peyroton Dartet (Fra) Eurocyclingtrips-CMI Pro Cycling | |
128 | Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
129 | Vincent Louiche (Fra) Ferei-CCN | |
130 | Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
131 | Lilian Schneider (Fra) | |
132 | Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
133 | Noé Castille (Fra) | |
134 | Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM | |
135 | Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie | |
136 | Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
137 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie |
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