Valentin Madouas wins Paris-Bourges
Coquard denied in photo finish
Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) claim a dramatic victory at Paris-Bourges as he just about held off a fast-closing peloton to seal the first victory of his professional career. Bryan Coquard (Vital Concept) took second ahead of Christophe Laporte (Cofidis), but it initially looked as though he might have done enough to overhaul Madouas at the death.
Following a quick consultation of the photo finish image, however, the commissaires awarded the victory to Madouas, who had already seemed convinced of his victory, raising in arm in triumph immediately after crossing the line.
Madouas was part of a group of attackers who bridged across to the day’s early break on the Cote du Graveron, and he remained in the front group as it was whittled down to just six riders in the final hour or so of racing.
The neo-professional proceeded to go on the offensive alone just as the peloton was closing in on the escapees with a little over a kilometre and a half remaining. The bunch looked set to sweep him up as he entered the finishing straight, but Madouas had the strength to maintain his speed and claim a fine victory.
The race was animated by an early break featuring David Rivière (Direct Energie), Joseph Areruya (Delko Marseille-Provence KTM), Pierre Idjouadiene (Roubaix-Lille Métropole), Lennert Teugels (Cibel-Cebon), Jarno Mobach (Development Team Sunweb) and Tom Vermeer (Team Differdange-Losch). The group established a maximum lead of 5 minutes before Cofidis set about narrowing the gap.
Groupama-FDJ later joined the pursuit and helped to shatter the bunch into three distinct groups. By the foot of the Cote du Graveron, the front end of the peloton was less than a minute behind the chasers, and on the climb, Madouas was among a group of riders who bridged across to the earlier escapees.
With 60 kilometres to go, some 16 riders were at the head of the race with a lead of 40 seconds over the peloton, but the ferocity of the pace saw the group shed riders in quick succession on the run-in. Inside the final 40 kilometres, only eight riders remained in front: Benoît Cosnefroy, Silvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Paul Ourselin (Direct Energie), Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis), Quentin Pacher (Vital Concept), Marc Hirschi (Development Team Sunweb) and Lennert Teugels (Cibel-Cebon).
The escapees combined well in the final hour of racing as their lead flitted between 40 seconds and a minute, but when it dropped to 15 seconds inside the final 10km, it looked as though their race was run.
Wanty-Groupe Gobert took up the reins of pursuit in the closing kilometres, but although they brought the bunch to within sight of the leaders, they were unable to make the juncture. With 1600 metres remaining, Madouas opted to play his hand, attacking alone just as the peloton was on the cusp of catching the break.
The 22-year-old son of former professional Laurent Madouas has had a number of near misses in French races this season. He placed 2nd at Paris-Camembert, 4th at the Tour du Haut Var and 8th at the Bretagne Classic, but he timed his effort perfectly here to score his first win in the paid ranks and Groupama-FDJ’s 31st victory of 2018.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | 4:20:27 |
2 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
3 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
4 | Bram Welten (Ned) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | |
5 | Milan Menten (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
6 | Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
7 | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
8 | Mickael Delage (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | |
9 | Nils Eekhoff (Ned) Development Team Sunweb | |
10 | Damien Touze (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
11 | Justin Jules (Fra) Wb Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
12 | Lukas Rüegg (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
13 | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Cycling Academy | |
14 | Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
15 | Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
16 | Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
17 | Kevin Deltombe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
18 | Yoann Offredo (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
19 | Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
20 | Lennert Teugels (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
21 | Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
22 | Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
23 | Maxime Farazijn (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
24 | Tom Vermeer (Ned) Team Differdange Losch | |
25 | Gian Friesecke (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
26 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie | |
27 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie | |
28 | Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
29 | Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
30 | Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
31 | Camille Thominet (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
32 | Florian Stork (Ger) Development Team Sunweb | |
33 | Patrick Schelling (Swi) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
34 | Marc Hirschi (Swi) Development Team Sunweb | |
35 | Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama - Fdj | |
36 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
37 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | 0:00:08 |
38 | Romain Le Roux (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | 0:00:12 |
39 | Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:00:19 |
40 | Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
41 | Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:00:22 |
42 | Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:00:29 |
43 | Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
44 | Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | |
45 | Clément Carisey (Fra) Israel Cycling Academy | |
46 | Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
47 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
48 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
49 | François Bidard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
50 | Silvan Dillier (Swi) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
51 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Direct Energie | 0:01:20 |
52 | Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:01:23 |
53 | Kevin Reza (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | 0:01:45 |
54 | Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
55 | Brice Feillu (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | 0:01:55 |
56 | Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:02:05 |
57 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | 0:03:08 |
58 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
59 | Eliot Lietaer (Bel) Wb Aqua Protect Veranclassic | 0:06:47 |
60 | Rudy Barbier (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | 0:09:01 |
61 | Brecht Ruyters (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
62 | Cedric Raymackers (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
63 | Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
64 | Dennis Coenen (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | |
65 | Alexis Guerin (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
66 | Joseph Areruya (Rwa) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
67 | Lukas Spengler (Swi) Wb Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
68 | Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
69 | Pierre Barbier (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
70 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
71 | Florentin Lecamus Lambert (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | |
72 | Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | |
73 | Romain Feillu (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
74 | Manuel Bosch (Aut) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
75 | Joshua Teasdale (GBr) Team Differdange Losch | |
76 | Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | |
77 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) Groupama - Fdj | |
78 | Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
79 | Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Ago - Aqua Service | |
80 | Larry Valvasori (Lux) Team Differdange Losch | |
81 | Ludovic Robeet (Bel) Wb Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
82 | Clement Orceau (Fra) Direct Energie | |
83 | Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
84 | Timothy Dupont (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
85 | Lukas Meiler (Ger) Team Vorarlberg Santic | |
86 | Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
87 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | |
88 | Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
89 | Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
90 | Jarno Mobach (Ned) Development Team Sunweb | |
91 | Olivier Pardini (Bel) Team Differdange Losch | |
92 | Dennis Van Winden (Ned) Israel Cycling Academy | 0:10:41 |
93 | Wim Reynaerts (Bel) Cibel - Cebon | 0:14:49 |
94 | Sondre Enger (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy | |
95 | Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy | |
96 | August Jensen (Nor) Israel Cycling Academy | |
97 | Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | |
98 | Tom Thill (Lux) Team Differdange Losch | |
99 | Patrick Müller (Swi) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
100 | David Riviere (Fra) Direct Energie | |
101 | Leon Heinschke (Ger) Development Team Sunweb | |
102 | Niklas Märkl (Ger) Development Team Sunweb | |
103 | Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
104 | Steven Tronet (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
105 | Emiel Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
106 | Aitor Gonzalez Prieto (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
DNF | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie | |
DNF | Loic Chetout (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Trevigiani Phonix - Hemus 1896 | |
DNF | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence Ktm | |
DNF | Florian Vachon (Fra) Team Fortuneo - Samsic | |
DNF | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Vital Concept Cycling Club | |
DNF | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty - Groupe Gobert | |
DNF | Kevyn Ista (Bel) Wb Aqua Protect Veranclassic | |
DNF | Gotzon Udondo Santamaria (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
DNF | Julen Irizar Laskurain (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias | |
DNF | Omer Goldsteiin (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy | |
DNF | Nicolas Baldo (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
DNF | Alo Jakin (Est) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
DNF | Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel - Auber 93 | |
DNF | Toni Franz (Ger) Team Differdange Losch | |
DNF | Balázs Rózsa (Hun) Team Differdange Losch |

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