Pozzato takes sprint victory at GP Ouest France-Plouay
By Cycling News
Nizzolo, Dumoulin complete podium
Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) claimed his biggest win in years with victory in Sunday’s GP Ouest France-Plouay. The Italian sprinted to the line ahead of Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack Leopard) and Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) to take his second win in two weeks following his victory in the Coppa Agostoni last month.
Facing a strong headwind on the finishing stretch, Pozzato exercised patience then made use of his fast finish to come through in the final few metres for the win at the head of a 70-strong field. BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet had launched a vicious attack from three kilometres out but the Belgian was reeled in within sight of the finish line.
"I'm really happy to be able to win such an important race for the team, the Galbusera family and our secondary sponsor Merida," said Pozzato. "We knew that it would be difficult to win the sprint from the front. I preferred to wait in my opponents' wake until the final moment on the straight, downhill finish then launch my own sprint."
For Nizzolo, second was a bitter pill to swallow as he thought he'd had the race won in the final metres.
"I started my sprint a bit early because last year I was too late," said Nizzolo. "It’s a tricky finish here and very easy to get boxed in. But at five or ten metres to go, Pozzato passed me.
"Second is nice but first is better. When someone passes you so close to the finish, it sucks. In the last lap I tried to follow the attacks and found myself between the attackers and the bunch. I spent too much energy there, I believe."
The 77th edition of the GP Ouest France-Plouay, part of the UCI WorldTour calendar, consisted of nine laps of a 27km circuit starting and finishing in Plouay, situated in France's Brittany region.
A four-man break formed soon after the race started and was comprised of members from each of France's four Pro Continental squads: Natnael Berhane (Europcar), Vegard Stake Laengen (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Christophe Laborie (Sojasun) and Julien Fouchard (Cofidis). The peloton gave the quartet plenty of leeway as the escapees built up a lead in excess of 16 minutes, but by the time the break began it's penultimate lap their lead was cut to less than three minutes.
Prior to beginning the final 27km circuit the early break was absorbed and the counter-attacks began. Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano) were momentarily able to escape the peloton's clutches, but entering the final 10 kilometres the deck was re-shuffled as three riders, Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), Kristijan Koren (Cannondale) and Tim Wellens (Lotto Belisol), were on the attack and held a slender 13-second advantage.
Their escape was neutralised at the lap's final climb, the Cote de Ty-Marrec, inside of five kilometres remaining and the punchy ascent saw several riders jump away from the peloton in a bid for victory. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was the first over the climb and was closely marked by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano). This leading group would quickly grow to nine, but lacking cohesion and with the peloton just seconds behind more attacks were launched.
Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) jumped away alone with 3.5 kilometres remaining, but the Italian's move was short-lived and was countered by Greg Van Avermaet (BMC). The Belgian has been on good form of late having won a stage at the Tour of Utah as well as notching seven top-five finishes in stages in Utah and then Colorado's USA Pro Challenge, but the BMC rider now faced a difficult 3km time trial to the finish line.
The 28-year-old Belgian's solo attack continued under the flamme rouge, however, but he would be swept up by the peloton at 300 metres to go. "I felt really strong and I had a lot of power in my legs," said Van Avermaet. "But three kilometres alone with a headwind the whole way was hard."
Orica-GreenEdge led out the sprint but it would be Pozzato who reigned supreme in the Plouay finale.
1 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 5:59:54 |
2 | Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard | |
3 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
4 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
5 | Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
6 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
7 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
8 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | |
9 | Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | |
10 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | |
11 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun | |
12 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | |
13 | Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
14 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
15 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge | |
16 | Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
17 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
18 | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team | |
19 | Simone Ponzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
20 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
21 | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
22 | Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
23 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
24 | Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
25 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
26 | Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
27 | Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling | |
28 | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
29 | Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
30 | Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar | |
31 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
32 | Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
33 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
34 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
35 | Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
36 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
37 | Nelson Filipe Santos Simoes Oliveira (Por) RadioShack Leopard | |
38 | Maurits Lammertink (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
39 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha | |
40 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun | |
41 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale | |
42 | Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team | |
43 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
44 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Katusha | |
45 | Manuele Boaro (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
46 | Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
47 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
48 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
49 | Mads Christensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
50 | Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
51 | Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
52 | Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha | |
53 | Julian Kern (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale | |
54 | Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
55 | Simon Spilak (Slo) Katusha | |
56 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
57 | Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
58 | Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling | |
59 | Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
60 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | |
61 | Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar | |
62 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard | |
63 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
64 | Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
65 | Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge | |
66 | Tom Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
67 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
68 | Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
69 | Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team | |
70 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
71 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:12 |
72 | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | 0:00:21 |
73 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:00:23 |
74 | Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:00:44 |
75 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team | 0:00:49 |
76 | Petr Ignatenko (Rus) Katusha | 0:01:10 |
77 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
78 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
79 | Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
80 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
81 | Maarten Neyens (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
82 | Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
83 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
84 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
85 | Julien Vermote (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
86 | Fabien Schmidt (Fra) Sojasun | |
87 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Argos-Shimano | |
88 | Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
89 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
90 | Steele Von Hoff (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | |
91 | Francois Parisien (Can) Team Argos-Shimano | |
92 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:01:59 |
93 | Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | 0:02:42 |
94 | Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin-Sharp | 0:02:49 |
95 | Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team | |
96 | Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
97 | Gaetan Bille (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
98 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
99 | Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
100 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp | |
101 | David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling | |
102 | Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
103 | Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
104 | Michal Golas (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
105 | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
106 | Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
107 | Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:03:56 |
108 | Daniele Pietropolli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
109 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
110 | Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun | |
111 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
112 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | |
113 | Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
114 | Dirk Bellemakers (Ned) Lotto Belisol | |
115 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
116 | Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:04:28 |
117 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) RadioShack Leopard | 0:06:52 |
118 | Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
119 | Federico Canuti (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
120 | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
121 | Marco Bandiera (Ita) IAM Cycling | |
122 | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
123 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
124 | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar | |
125 | Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
126 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp | |
127 | Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha | |
128 | Natnael Berhane (Eri) Team Europcar | |
129 | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
130 | Matthias Krizek (Aut) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
131 | Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge | |
132 | Maxim Belkov (Rus) Katusha | 0:13:00 |
133 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:17:20 |
HD | Paul Martens (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
HD | Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
DNF | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
DNF | Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
DNF | Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Sharp | |
DNF | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | |
DNF | Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | |
DNF | Laurent Didier (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | |
DNF | Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | |
DNF | Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard | |
DNF | Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
DNF | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step | |
DNF | Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Adam Blythe (GBr) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Roberto Ferrari (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
DNF | Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Brian Bulgac (Ned) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Sander Cordeel (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Gert Dockx (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
DNF | Danny van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Yann Huguet (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano | |
DNF | Ji Cheng (Chn) Team Argos-Shimano | |
DNF | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Kristof Goddaert (Bel) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
DNS | Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin-Sharp |
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