Hivert wins Tour du Finistere

Jonathan Hivert (Direct Energie) continued his fine 2018 campaign with victory at the Tour du Finistère on Saturday, where he beat Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Guillaume Martin (Wanty Groupe-Gobert) to the line in Quimper.

The 33-year-old Frenchman, who won both stages and the overall at the Tour du Haut Var in February before taking a stage at Paris-Nice the following month, edged out his compatriots after a group of a dozen riders had broken clear on the last of five laps of a 9.7km finishing circuit.

Hivert possesses a strong sprint and was able to overcome the other members of a strong group, which, as well as Bardet and Martin, included Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), and his own teammate Lilian Calmejane.

Hivert now has five wins for the season and Direct Energie 12, the French Pro Continental team showing no signs of missing Bryan Coquard, who left acrimoniously over the winter.

Hivert's victory came in a stronger-than-usual field at the Tour du Finistère, which could be explained by the fact that the route contained the exact final 35 or so kilometres that will be found on stage 5 of this year's Tour de France in July.

As such, as well as Bardet, Barguil, and Van Garderen, Richie Porte was also in attendance, all of them grabbing the opportunity for an in-race recon. Bardet will no doubt be happy with his performance in light of a much sooner target – La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège next week.

The 190.5km Finistère course was hilly and well-suited for any Ardennes hopefuls who'd chosen to eschew Sunday's Amstel Gold Race. The parcours was relatively benign for the first 60 kilometres but then the tough climbs started, and the race intensified on the local laps, which contained the Côte Voie Romaine early on, followed by the Côte de Meil Stang Vihan in the final 1.5km.

A breakaway of four riders – Nicolas Baldo (St Michel-Auber93), Corentin Ermenault (Vital Concept), Michiel Dieleman (Cibel-Cebon) and Jelle Mannaerts (Tarteletto-Isorex) – broke free early on and built a lead of six minutes over the peloton by the halfway mark. Once the peloton started to chase in earnest, however, the gap came tumbling down, and the quartet crossed the finish line for the first time, with just under 50km remaining, with a lead of barely a minute.

Mannaerts and Baldo were soon dropped, while Direct Energie's Rein Taaramae attacked from the peloton and joined Ermenault and Dieleman. They didn't last long, however, and after Ermenault was dropped with just over 30km to go, the other two were caught and the peloton was all back together with 25 kilometres to go.

The regrouping triggered a spate of attacks, with Bardet, Barguil, and Porte in the thick of the action. As they heard the bell the peloton was strung out but still pretty much as one, though the Côte Voie Romaine saw a strong group of 15 rise to the top.

Hivert weathered the final incline and used his finishing kick to see off the more decorated Bardet.

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Direct Energie4:43:04
2Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 1 - Cell 2
3Guillaume Martin (Fra) Wanty-Groupe GobertRow 2 - Cell 2
4Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 3 - Cell 2
5Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Cibel-CebonRow 4 - Cell 2
6Jeremy Cornu (Fra) Direct EnergieRow 5 - Cell 2
7Fabien Grellier (Fra) Direct EnergieRow 6 - Cell 2
8Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing TeamRow 7 - Cell 2
9Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker IcopalRow 8 - Cell 2
10Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Direct Energie0:00:07
11Warren Barguil (Fra) Fortuneo-SamsicRow 10 - Cell 2
12Kevin Le Cunff (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93Row 11 - Cell 2
13Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Roubaix Lille MetropoleRow 12 - Cell 2
14Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 13 - Cell 2
15Paul Ourselin (Fra) Direct Energie0:00:31
16Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko Marseille Provence KTM0:00:55
17Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 16 - Cell 2
18Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 17 - Cell 2
19Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 18 - Cell 2
20Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93Row 19 - Cell 2
21Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 20 - Cell 2
22Romain Hardy (Fra) Fortuneo-SamsicRow 21 - Cell 2
23Thomas Degand (Bel) Wanty-Groupe GobertRow 22 - Cell 2
24Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 23 - Cell 2
25Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJRow 24 - Cell 2
26Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-MuriasRow 25 - Cell 2
27Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-BaloiseRow 26 - Cell 2
28Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 27 - Cell 2
29Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing TeamRow 28 - Cell 2
30Camille Thominet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93Row 29 - Cell 2
31Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Fortuneo-SamsicRow 30 - Cell 2
32Lennert Teugels (Bel) Cibel-CebonRow 31 - Cell 2
33uan Antonio Lopez-Cozar Jaimez (Spa) Team EuskadiRow 32 - Cell 2
34Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTMRow 33 - Cell 2
35Gianni Marchand (Bel) Cibel-CebonRow 34 - Cell 2
36Jerome Mainard (Fra) Roubaix Lille MetropoleRow 35 - Cell 2
37Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing TeamRow 36 - Cell 2
38Pierre Gouault (Fra) Roubaix Lille MetropoleRow 37 - Cell 2
39David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ0:01:00
40Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTMRow 39 - Cell 2
41Adrien Garel (Fra) Vital Concept ClubRow 40 - Cell 2
42Elie Gesbert (Fra) Fortuneo-SamsicRow 41 - Cell 2
43Ricardo Garcia (Spa) Team Euskadi0:01:03
44Tom Dernies (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole0:01:08
45Richie Porte (Aus) BMC Racing TeamRow 44 - Cell 2
46Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias0:01:15
47Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic0:01:19
48Bjørn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal0:01:27
49Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Joker Icopal0:01:38
50Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 930:01:49
51Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM0:01:56
52Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Fortuneo-Samsic0:02:17
53Cyril Gautier (Fra) AG2R La MondialeRow 52 - Cell 2
54Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Tarteletto-Isorex0:02:53
55Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Wanty-Groupe Gobert0:03:27
56Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ0:06:03
57Fabien Doubey (Fra) Wanty-Groupe GobertRow 56 - Cell 2
58Gotzon Martin Sanz (Spa) Team EuskadiRow 57 - Cell 2
59Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJRow 58 - Cell 2
60Sergio Rodriguez Reche (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-MuriasRow 59 - Cell 2
61Michiel Dieleman (Bel) Cibel-Cebon0:06:28
62Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ0:08:59
63Steven Lammertink (Ned) Vital Concept Club0:13:53
64Marc Buades Ferriol (Spa) Team EuskadiRow 63 - Cell 2
DNFRoy Jans (Bel) Cibel-CebonRow 64 - Cell 2
DNFFridtjof Røinås (Nor) Joker IcopalRow 65 - Cell 2
DNFPolychronis Tzortzakis (Gre) Tarteletto-IsorexRow 66 - Cell 2
DNFHenrik Evensen (Nor) Joker IcopalRow 67 - Cell 2
DNFHector Saez Benito (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-MuriasRow 68 - Cell 2
DNFAmaury Capiot (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-BaloiseRow 69 - Cell 2
DNFTanner Putt (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro CyclingRow 70 - Cell 2
DNFAdrian Hegyvary (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro CyclingRow 71 - Cell 2
DNFJohan Le Bon (Fra) Vital Concept ClubRow 72 - Cell 2
DNSGuillaume Bonnafond (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions CreditsRow 73 - Cell 2

 

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.


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