Ladagnous sprints to La Poly Normande victory
By Cycling News published
Française Des Jeux riders take first and third
Matthieu Ladagnous quickly overcame the disappointment of his non-selection for the Tour de France by continuing Française des Jeux's recent dominance of the La Poly Normande. After finishing fourth overall in the Tour de Wallonie, Ladagnous won the French Cup race organised by the commentator of the Tour de France, Daniel Mangeas, in his Normand village of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles on Sunday.
Following the successes of his teammates Arnaud Gérard (in 2008) and Benoît Vaugrenard (2007), Ladagnous finished first in an unusual bunch sprint and shared the podium with his Australian companion Wesley Sulzberger who placed third.
"When I came here I hoped for a breakaway," Ladagnous said. "I thought it was over when the front group had a seven-minute lead. I didn't feel good with 30 kilometres to go. At the end, it wasn't a typical bunch sprint. Everybody was tired. We all sprinted without a real strategy."
Sulzberger was on his wheel but also didn't have the speed for the finale, something that only Stefan van Dijk (Verandas Willems) had. "I was the strongest, but I started sprinting too late," said van Dijk.
Sulzberger was delighted to accompany Ladagnous to the podium. "It was flat out at the end but I'm happy to see the form coming back for Paris-Corrèze, which was my first race with Française des Jeux one year ago. I have big ambitions there," the Tasmanian said.
Ladagnous, who emerged as one of the most promising riders after winning the Four Days of Dunkirk two years ago, was surprisingly left out of the Tour de France team by the Française des Jeux management. "I was disappointed to learn it from Marc Madiot on the eve of the French championship," the rider from Pau said. "I watched it and there were many opportunities for a rider like me, but it's not the end of the world. There will be other Tours for me I hope and there are other interesting races as well. Today is a good example that there is a life as a bike rider after the Tour de France."
A nine-man breakaway took shape after only five kilometres of racing in the outskirts of Avranches where Bradley McGee won stage 7 of the 2002 Tour de France. It included Jocelyn Bar (Française des Jeux), Pierre Rolland (Bbox-Bouygues Telecom), René Mandri (AG2R La Mondiale), Benjamin Giraud (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne), Jean-Luc Delpech (Bretagne-Schuller), Anthony Delaplace (Besson Chaussures-Sojasun), Diego Tamayo (Carmiooro - A-Style), James Vanlandschoot (Verandas Willems) and Loïc Desriac (French National Team).
The riders in the break were not taken very seriously because many of them were trainees (Bar, Giraud and Delaplace), amateur (Desriac) and members of Continental teams, so they were able to extend their lead to 7:40 over the peloton. Eventually Cofidis took up the chase, not trusting Giraud's ability to win, otherwise the peloton would likely have never brought back the escapees.
Utilizing his form from the Tour de France, Rolland tried to go solo but his escape attempt was unsuccessful. Tamayo, Delpech and Delaplace, who was doing his first pro race in the same village of Saint-Martin-de-Landelles where he won the U17 race only four years ago, attacked their breakaway companions but this move, too, did not succeed. The peloton absorbed all of the riders from the break with 10 kilometres remaining to the finish and the teams of the sprinters prepared for a field sprint to decide the race.
Anthony Geslin (Française des Jeux) and the leader of the French Cup Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures-Sojasun) were among the riders who tried to avoid a bunch sprint with attacks in the closing kilometres, but each effort was neutralised by the peloton.
Matthieu Ladagnous (Française des Jeux) led-out the sprint from 300 metres with teammate Wesley Sulzberger on his wheel. Stefan van Dijk (Verandas Willems) almost managed to overtake both Française des Jeux riders, but the photo-finish confirmed Ladagnous as the winner.
1 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux | 3:45:23 |
2 | Stefan Van Dijck (Ned) Verandas Willems | |
3 | Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française Des Jeux | |
4 | Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
5 | Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
6 | Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel | |
7 | Daniele Colli (Ita) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
8 | Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
9 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
10 | Renaud Dion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
11 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
12 | Julien Simon (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
13 | Laurent Beuret (Swi) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
14 | Benoît Sinner (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
15 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
16 | Pierre Cazaux (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
17 | Steven Caethoven (Bel) Agritubel | |
18 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
19 | Cédric Pineau (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
20 | Jan Kuyckx (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
21 | Anthony Ravard (Fra) Agritubel | |
22 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
23 | Sébastien Harbonnier (Fra) Continental Team Differdange | |
24 | Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
25 | Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber 93 | |
26 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
27 | Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 | |
28 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
29 | Vincent Jerome (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
30 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
31 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
32 | Jocelyn Bar (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
33 | Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
34 | Sylvain Georges (Fra) French National Team | |
35 | Morgan Chedhomme (Fra) Auber 93 | |
36 | Remi Cusin (Fra) Agritubel | |
37 | Aurelien Duval (Fra) Francaise des Jeux | |
38 | Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
39 | Rene Mandri (Est) AG2R La Mondiale | |
40 | Jean Eudes Demaret (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
41 | Yann Pivois (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
42 | Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
43 | Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Auber 93 | |
44 | Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
45 | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
46 | Blaise Sonnery (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
47 | Romain Zingle (Bel) Verandas Willems | 0:00:10 |
48 | Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Française Des Jeux | |
49 | Diego Alejandro Tamayo (Col) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
50 | Fabien Taillefer (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
51 | Thomas Lebas (Fra) French National Team | |
52 | Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
53 | Florian Guillou (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
54 | James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
55 | Loïc Desriac (Fra) French National Team | |
56 | Maryan Hary (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
57 | Jimmy Casper (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
58 | Guillaume Malle (Fra) French National Team | |
59 | Koen Barbe (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
60 | Kevin Peeters (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
61 | Eric Berthou (Fra) Carmiooro - A-Style | |
62 | Franck Bouyer (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
63 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
64 | Maxime Mederel (Fra) Auber 93 | |
65 | Tony Gallopin (Fra) Auber 93 | 0:00:16 |
66 | Jeremy Galland (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
67 | Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel | |
68 | Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
69 | Anthony De La Place (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | 0:00:19 |
70 | Romain Matheou (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
71 | Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | |
72 | Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Besson Chaussures - Sojasun | 0:00:21 |
73 | Yann Huguet (Fra) Agritubel | |
74 | Johan Mombaerts (Fra) Auber 93 | 0:00:31 |
75 | Mickael Larpe (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:00:37 |
76 | Antoine Dalibard (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | 0:00:38 |
77 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | 0:00:44 |
78 | Grégory Habeaux (Bel) Verandas Willems | 0:01:04 |
79 | Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | 0:01:46 |
80 | Laurent Denonfoux (Fra) French National Team | 0:03:40 |
81 | Nadir Haddou (Fra) Auber 93 | 0:03:42 |
82 | Arnaud Molmy (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
83 | Benjamin Giraud (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne | |
84 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:03:44 |
85 | Mathieu Criquielion (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
86 | Cédric Collaers (Bel) Verandas Willems | |
87 | Masaru Fukuhara (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
88 | Sébastien Fournet Fayard (Fra) Carmiooro - A-Style | 0:06:36 |
DNF | Rony Martias (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Pierre Rolland (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom | |
DNF | Kenji Itami (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
DNF | Masamichi Yamamoto (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
DNF | Mitsunari Mitaki (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
DNF | Sho Aikawa (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
DNF | Shinpei Fukuda (Jpn) Team Bridgestone Anchor | |
DNF | Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
DNF | Nicolas Baldo (Fra) Continental Team Differdange | |
DNF | Jempy Drucker (Lux) Continental Team Differdange | |
DNF | Dominik Eberle (Ger) Continental Team Differdange | |
DNF | Morten Knudsen (Den) Continental Team Differdange | |
DNF | Cyrille Heymans (Lux) Continental Team Differdange | |
DNF | Julien Fouchard (Fra) French National Team | |
DNF | Mathieu Halleguen (Fra) French National Team | |
DNF | Gaylord Cumont (Fra) French National Team | |
DNF | Martial Ricci Poggi (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
DNF | Mathieu Drouilly (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
DNF | David Boucher (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
DNF | Denis Flahaut (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
DNF | Jonathan Bertrand (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago | |
DNF | Bastien Delrot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Olivier Pardini (Bel) Verandas Willems |

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