Coquard the big cheese in Paris-Camembert
Europcar rider tops Dumoulin, Pichon in the sprint
As soon as his Europcar teammates crossed the line in Vimoutiers, Bryan Coquard apologized that his weight in Camembert wouldn't make much cheese to share, as this was historically the winner's price of the old French semi-classic. The little Frenchman, 58kg, scored his fourth victory this year after two stages of the Etoile de Bessèges and the Route Adélie.
The 75th Paris-Camembert propelled Coquard into the lead of the French cup, but runner up Samuel Dumoulin of AG2R-La Mondiale keeps one more overall victory in sight. Laurent Pichon of FDJ.fr completed the podium fully occupied by representatives of French Pro Teams.
"This morning at the start, we were scared that we'd have to assume the responsibilities in the race but we haven't had to do it," enjoyed Coquard who watched the AG2R-La Mondiale do most of the work chasing behind the five breakaway riders Alexandre Blain (Raleigh), Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix-Lille Métropole), Moreno De Pauw (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Alo Jakin (BigMat-Auber 93) and Fabio Chinello (Area Zero Pro Team).
In the hills around Vimoutiers in the beautiful and sunny Normand countryside, local rider Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) launched a strong attack in the Mur des Champeaux but got chased down by Coquard's teammate Alexandre Pichot who is also from Normandy. Another Europcar rider, Maxime Médérel, was the last attacker of the day, prior to the regrouping of twenty-five men for an unexpected bunch sprint.
"Had Médérel passed the top of the last hill alone, I don't think he'd have been caught," Coquard suggested. "I struggled in the climbs, but I managed to hold on."
"We knew that we had to get rid of Coquard to have a chance of winning," Dumoulin commented. "He had attacked a few times in the hills, so we hoped that he'd blow at the end but he didn't. I was on his wheel for the sprint but with the head wind and the false flat terrain to finish, he was definitely the strongest."
"I'm not afraid of races over 200km anymore," Coquard added. "I marked FDJ when Anthony Geslin was leading the sprint for Laurent Pichon and I believed I had to go at 200 metres from the line. On this false-flat, it was a bit far out but I felt I had good legs. I'm super happy with the team work. It was as efficient as at the Route Adélie. Last year I finished fifth here behind a breakaway of four and I was disappointed because we didn't understand each other with Pierrot [Rolland]. This time around, I'm happy with my results so far. I was just a bit disappointed with no stage win at Paris-Nice but I've improved in the climbs."
At the difference of Dumoulin, Coquard will not contest the weekend's French cup races as he'll embark to World Tour events Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, "to gain experience," he said. "It's of another standard of racing but the Amstel Gold Race has a pretty similar terrain as this one here. I'm still in a learning process."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar | 4:41:56 |
2 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
3 | Laurent Pichon (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
4 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
5 | Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
6 | Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
7 | Gerry Druyts (Bel) Team 3M | |
8 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
9 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
10 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
11 | Paolo Ciavatta (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
12 | Arnaud Gérard (Fra) Bretagne Séché Environnement | |
13 | Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
14 | Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Team Raleigh | |
15 | Théo Vimpere (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
16 | Quentin Jauregui (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
17 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
18 | Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
19 | Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
20 | Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
21 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
22 | Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
23 | Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
24 | Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
25 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ.fr | 0:00:07 |
26 | Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:21 |
27 | Flavien Dassonville (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | 0:00:30 |
28 | Brice Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | 0:00:35 |
29 | Maxime Mederel (Fra) Team Europcar | |
30 | Evan Oliphant (GBr) Team Raleigh | 0:00:40 |
31 | Mark Christian (GBr) Team Raleigh | |
32 | Bryan Naulleau (Fra) Team Europcar | |
33 | Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
34 | Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Team Raleigh | 0:02:22 |
35 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
36 | Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | 0:02:35 |
37 | Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
38 | Julien Duval (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:02:57 |
39 | José Gonçalves (Por) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
40 | Simone Petilli (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
41 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
42 | Steven Tronet (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
43 | Mikael Chérel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
44 | Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:04:03 |
45 | Angelo Tulik (Fra) Team Europcar | |
46 | César Bihel (Fra) Team Differdange - Losch | 0:05:01 |
47 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
48 | Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
49 | Pierre Gouault (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
50 | Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
51 | Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:05:04 |
52 | Dimitri Le Boulch (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | 0:05:33 |
53 | Peeter Pruus (Est) Rietumu - Delfin | |
54 | Yoann Paillot (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | 0:07:20 |
55 | Maxime Vantomme (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
56 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:07:22 |
57 | Ian Wilkinson (GBr) Team Raleigh | |
58 | Gianluca Mengardo (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
59 | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
60 | Domingos Goncalves (Por) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
61 | Antoine Lavieu (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
62 | Laurent Mangel (Fra) FDJ.fr | |
63 | Baptiste Planckaert (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
64 | Rudy Kowalski (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
65 | Romain Guillemois (Fra) Team Europcar | |
66 | Johan Coenen (Bel) Team Differdange - Losch | 0:09:13 |
67 | Charly Petelin (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
68 | Jens Vandenbogaerde (Bel) Team 3M | 0:09:38 |
69 | Tim Vanspeybroeck (Bel) Team 3M | |
70 | Christian Helmig (Ned) Team Differdange - Losch | 0:10:19 |
71 | Sebastiaan Pot (Ned) Team 3M | |
72 | Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
73 | Sebastiano Frassetto (Ita) Team Differdange - Losch | |
74 | Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
75 | Fréderic Brun (Fra) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
76 | Alo Jakin (Est) BigMat - Auber 93 | |
77 | Alexandre Blain (Fra) Team Raleigh | |
78 | Armands Becis (Lat) Rietumu - Delfin | |
79 | Lubos Pelanek (Cze) Team Differdange - Losch | |
80 | Andris Smirnovs (Lat) Rietumu - Delfin | |
81 | Edgaras Kovaliovas (Ltu) Rietumu - Delfin | |
82 | Liam Stones (GBr) Team Raleigh | |
83 | Thomas Rostollan (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
84 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
85 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
86 | Silvio Giorni (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
87 | Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Team 3M | |
88 | Gianluca Leonardi (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
89 | Joren Segers (Bel) Team 3M | 0:13:44 |
DNF | Joseph Perrett (GBr) Team Raleigh | |
DNF | Romain Pillon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Fabio Chinello (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
DNF | Axel Domont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Area Zero Pro Team | |
DNF | Joaquin Sobrino (Spa) Team Differdange - Losch | |
DNF | Janis Dakteris (Lat) Team Differdange - Losch | |
DNF | Dylan Van Zijl (Ned) Team 3M | |
DNF | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Julien El Fares (Fra) Team La Pomme Marseille 13 | |
DNF | Moreno De Pauw (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Kevin Suarez Martinez (Bel) Team Differdange - Losch | |
DNF | Emils Liepins (Lat) Rietumu - Delfin | |
DNF | Romain Feillu (Fra) Bretagne - Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen - Baloise | |
DNF | Jaap De Man (Ned) Team 3M | |
DNS | Andzs Flaksis (Lat) Rietumu - Delfin | |
DNS | Andris Vosekalns (Lat) Rietumu - Delfin |
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