Vendrame wins Tro-Bro Leon

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Andrea Vendrame (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) became the first Italian winner in the 35-year history of the Tro-Bro Leon, the Breton version of Paris-Roubaix held one week later on gravelled roads near the coast bordering the English Channel.

The Venetian outsprinted French favourites Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ) and Lilian Calmejane (Total Direct Energie), who also missed out on the podium occupied by Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Emil Vinjebo (Riwal).

"Luck was on my side as I had no crash and no puncture," Vendrame said. "We came across to the leaders in the last lap and the race situation was perfect for me. On Saturday at the Tour du Finistère, I finished second but I didn’t have good legs. Today, I felt great all the way so I was confident in my sprint even though I knew some of the riders up there were quite fast."

Vendrame was never far behind the attackers, who were four with 50km to go. Sergio Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias) was first to disappear from the front of the race due to a flat tyre. Alex Paton (Canyon), Kim Magnusson (Riwal Readynez) and Julien El Farès (Delko Marseille) remained in the lead and were reinforced by Conor Swift (Madison Genesis) and Vinjebo. Paton also suffered a flat tyre.

Damien Gaudin (Total Direct Energie), the winner of the 2017 Tro-Bro Leon, made the race very hard in the pursuit of the leaders. He bridged the gap and continued with Vinjebo – the Danish sensation of the day. With 22km to go, five riders came across: Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Thomas Boudat (Total Direct Energie), Anthony Delaplace (Arkea-Samsic) and Alo Jakin (St-Michel-Auber).

Groupama-FDJ brought Sarreau back to the front, but in the last lap, 11 riders regrouped following several attacks by Backaert, who loves the Tro-Bro Leon so much that he mentions this race in every interview he gives.

As Groupama-FDJ outnumbered their rivals with the return of Mickael Delage while Gaudin was out of contention after a puncture with 15km to go, Gougeard forced Sarreau to one last chase that cost him the strength he needed for the final sprint. Vendrame could watch the fight of the French teams and time his sprint at perfection.

"The gravelled roads don’t normally suit me so much because I’m very light, but today the conditions were perfect for me," the Italian noted. He was welcomed on stage by his compatriot Claudio Chiappucci, who was the guest of honour of the 36th Tro-Bro Leon. The former runner up of the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the world championship translated Vendrame telling race speaker Daniel Mangeas that he’d like to ride for a French team in the future.

Vendrame actually performs particularly well in the west of France since he claimed the silver medal at the 2016 U23 European championship in Plumelec. He also won the last stage of the 2017 Tour de Bretagne. Tro-Bro Leon is the second pro win for the 24-year-old after the final stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe 10 days ago. Now second in the French Cup, he’s set to ride his second Giro d’Italia, starting from Bologna on May 11 after trying to score more points for Androni in the Giro del Appennino on April 28.

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