Démare wins RideLondon-Surrey Classic

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Arnaud Démare (FDJ) claimed victory in the inaugural Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic with a perfectly-timed sprint on the Mall. The Frenchman saw off the challenge of Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvolve-CSF Inox) and Yannick Martinez (La Pomme-Marseille) in the bunch finish to claim the win.

Démare was expertly marshalled through the final kilometre by his poisson pilote Geoffroy Soupe and ripped clear with a powerful sprint 200 metres from the line. Modolo did his level best to get back on terms but was left with too much to do and had to settle for second behind the flying Démare.

“There was an FDJ rider in all the breaks today and then in the finale, Mickael Delage and Geoffroy Soupe did tremendous work and delivered me to the final 200 metres,” Démare said afterwards.

Indeed, his FDJ squad was hugely prominent throughout the afternoon’s racing. Dominque Rollin represented the team’s interests in the day’s early break, while the stylish Yoann Offredo illuminated proceedings by attacking in the finale.

Offredo managed to make it across to the earlier escapees shortly after the final ascent of Box Hill and shortly afterwards, he went off the front in the company of Zico Waeytens (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloisel). Exhausted from his earlier efforts, Waeytens could only provide token turns on the front, but Offredo was undeterred and threw himself wholeheartedly into the attack.

“We weren’t sure beforehand if it would finish in a sprint, so we put riders into the breaks and Yoann and Dominique took the initiative brilliantly,” Démare said.

20 kilometres from home, Offredo and Waeytens had a lead in excess of one minute, but the combined efforts of Orica-GreenEdge, Sky and Bardiani-CSF Inox pegged them back and they were finally swept up in the streets of London with a shade under 8 kilometres to race.

British youngster Sam Harrison put in a searing dig with 5 kilometres to go and opened a reasonable gap over the peloton but he was reeled in shortly afterwards as the sprinters’ team ratcheted up the pace still further.

David Millar (Garmin-Sharp) put in a mammoth effort with two kilometres to go, before Vacansoleil-DCM took over underneath the red kite. As the race swung onto the Mall, however, it was FDJ’s Delage and Soupe who took up the reins, and they provided Démare with a pitch-perfect lead-out.

How it unfolded

Twelve months on from the Olympic Games, London welcomed the professional road peloton back to the capital. As part of the desire to create a lasting legacy in the city, WorldTour squads from Garmin-Sharp, Cannondale, FDJ and Orica-GreenEDGE were among the teams rubbing shoulders on the start line in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

An opening hour of racing ended with a seven man group going clear, with Zico Waeytens (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloisel), Dominique Rollin (FDJ), Ramon Sinkeldam (Argos Shimano), Jonathan McEvoy (Team NetApp-Endura), Clinton Robert Avery (Champion System Pro Cycling Team), Michael Cuming (Rapha Condor JLT) and Reidar Bohlin Borgersen (Joker-Merida) making the move.

La Pomme Marseille, had been particularly aggressive in the opening stages, but their hard work failed to pay off and they missed the key move.

The seven were given nearly five minutes by the field as they built on their advantage after the early feed zone and headed towards the first ascent of Leith Hill.

With the break established a relative truce was called in the field, although a number of teams continued to monitor the front, the six-man squads creating a greater need to be vigilant.

Inside the last 90 kilometres, the WorldTour teams began to impose their strength and experience with Vacansoleil and FDJ making their presence felt at the front of the peloton, with the gap down to the leaders down to 3:18.

However, within another 13 kilometres the gap had gone out to 4:30 with the peloton choosing to ease up.

On the final ascent of Leith Hill Sinkeldam claimed the maximum points on offer ahead of his closet rival, Rollin. That gave the Argos rider a one point lead with only one ascent of Box Hill remaining.

The peloton finally reacted as they crested Leith Hill, the bunch lining out along the Surrey roads as Belkin and Orica GreedEdge set the pace.

At the foot of Box Hill the leaders still had 2:36 on the bunch with David Millar, the only member of Great Britain's Olympic team representative returning to London roads, setting the pace. Twelve months ago it was Millar and his British teammates who were put to the sword on final climb up Box Hill, but this time Millar – and his Garmin teammate Fabian Wegmann – briefly split the field, shaving 30 seconds off the break's advantage in the process.

Sinkeldam again distanced his rivals to reach the top of the climb in front, while Millar and Wegmann's work was enough to force a selection in the peloton, with the lead down to just 1'18.

With a regrouping in the peloton, and no single team willing to control the race, the sparring began in earnest with Ben Swift (Sky), Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) and Yoann Offredo (FDJ) taking it in turns to attack.

Bauer, Simon Yates and Yoann Offredo were able to ride off the front, and with 42 kilometres remaining, they had brought the leaders to within 6 seconds, with the peloton a further 42 seconds in arrears.

Once the breaks converged, Offredo's presence saw Rollin move the front and sacrifice his ambitions for his leader. And it was Frenchman who made his mark with 34 kilometres to go, dragging Waeytens with him.

Sky, who had been quiet for much of the race slotted Mat Hayman and Christian Knees on the front, with only Offredo and Waeytens staying clear of the bunch.

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