Hugo Hofstetter wins Tro-Bro Léon
Arkéa-Samsic stamp their authority on gravel race

Hugo Hofstetter gave Arkéa-Samsic their second straight victory in a rainy edition of Tro-Bro Léon, playing off strong teamwork to beat Luca Mozzato (B&B Hotels-KTM) in a two-man sprint. His teammate Connor Swift rolled in for third.
Hofstetter chased out of a much-reduced peloton and helped to form a leading group of five coming into the closing kilometres along with teammates Swift and Laurent Pichon, and Mozzato and Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Soudal). The Paris-Roubaix runner-up in 2021 had to let go of the group after a puncture, while Pichon was also left behind due to a mechanical.
On the final sectors of muddy farm tracks, Swift lost touch, leaving just Hofstetter and Mozzato to battle for the victory, which Hofstetter claimed with relative ease.
The early breakaway with Marc Sarreau (AG2R Citroën), Martin Urianstad (Uno-X), Morné Van Niekerk (St. Michel-Auber 93) and Charles-Étienne Chrétien (Premier Tech U23 Cycling Project) gained more than seven minutes on the field in the paved first half of the race, but faced 29 sectors of farm tracts in various states of repair. Some muddy, some gravel, some cobbled, some uphill and some on descents - all 33.3 kilometers in total add difficulty to the race, but the rain made for an exceptionally tough day.
The breakaway were caught with 29km to go as Arkéa-Samsic amassed at the front, pulling so strongly into a muddy bend that they caught the race motorbike and Clement Russo nearly crashed into him. Swift put in a massive pull to go across to the remaining breakaway riders.
Swift and Pichon pushed ahead together and, when Baptiste Planckaert (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) attempted to scramble across, Hofstetter latched onto his wheel to make the bridge to his teammates and then ride onto his eventual victory.
Results powered by FirstCycling
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'It's been quite a tough first week' - Jonas Vingegaard still trying to understand his Tour de France TT time loss to Tadej Pogačar
Visma-Lease a Bike suggest the problem was time trial-related but refuse to reveal full details -
Amazon Prime Day Bike Deals Live: 33% off Garmin computers, Electric pumps and Tacx smart trainers
Deals on Canyon electric bikes, Adidas shoes, AirPods and more. Day three of Amazon Prime Day is here, and the sale is heating up -
'Lulls them into a false sense of security' – How breakaway artist Ben Healy planned his way to a maiden Tour de France victory
'You're on a knife edge for quite a while, because it's quite often so daring and risky what he does' says EF Education-EasyPost sports director -
'Visma tried to do, I don't know what…' - Tadej Pogačar irritated by rival tactics to try to keep him in the Tour de France yellow jersey
UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader happy to lose race lead to friend and racing ally Mathieu van der Poel