Clément Venturini (France) captured his first victory in a round of the UCI's World Cup on home soil in Pontchâteau, France, as six French riders filled the top-ten of the Junior Men category race.
The only French World Cup round of the cyclo-cross season kicked off with a splendid start for the local fans as the French riders performed at their best in Pontchâteau. Venturini rode near the front of a large leading group all race long. Then after a blistering fast final lap, he held off a combative Danny van Poppel (The Netherlands) and compatriot Quentin Jauregui (France). Vojtech Nipl (Czech Republic), Kévin Bouvard (France) and Silvio Herklotz (Germany) finished just off the podium.
World Cup leader Laurens Sweeck and the other Belgians who were seemingly unbeatable up until this stage of the season failed to crack the top-10 in Pontchâteau. Sweeck finished 14th at more than half a minute from winner Venturini. Nevertheless Sweeck remains comfortably in the lead of the World Cup rankings. Daniel Peeters (Belgium) moved up from third to second place overall because Lars Forster (Switzerland) skipped the Pontchâteau race. Peeters' 12th place was just enough to stay one point ahead of Venturini, who moved up from sixth to third place. Laurens Sweeck's twin brother Diether failed to score any points in Pontchâteau and he tumbled from fourth to sixth place overall.
The results mean next week's last World Cup race in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, will be fiercely contested. Laurens Sweeck has to score points to secure his World Cup victory. Peeters, Venturini and Forster look the favourites to fight for the podium places in the overall rankings.
| 1 | Clément Venturini (Fra) France | 0:41:11 |
| 2 | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Netherlands | 0:00:03 |
| 3 | Quentin Jauregui (Fra) France | 0:00:04 |
| 4 | Vojtech Nipl (Cze) Czech Republic | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
| 5 | Kévin Bouvard (Fra) France | 0:00:05 |
| 6 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Germany | 0:00:06 |
| 7 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) France | 0:00:11 |
| 8 | Romain Seigle (Fra) France-B | 0:00:13 |
| 9 | Jaap De Man (Ned) Netherlands | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Loic Doubey (Fra) France | 0:00:14 |
| 11 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Belgium | 0:00:23 |
| 12 | Daniel Peeters (Bel) Belgium | 0:00:26 |
| 13 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Netherlands | 0:00:30 |
| 14 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Belgium | 0:00:33 |
| 15 | Tomas Medek (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:00:35 |
| 16 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Belgium | 0:00:40 |
| 17 | Jakub Skala (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:00:43 |
| 18 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) France-B | 0:00:46 |
| 19 | Justin Mottier (Fra) France-B | 0:00:57 |
| 20 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) Spain | 0:00:58 |
| 21 | Nicolas Rigaud (Fra) France-B | 0:00:59 |
| 22 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) France-B | 0:01:03 |
| 23 | Jan Dieteren (Ger) Germany | 0:01:07 |
| 24 | Twan Brusselman (Ned) Netherlands | 0:01:28 |
| 25 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) France-B | 0:01:34 |
| 26 | Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Germany | 0:01:36 |
| 27 | Julian Lehmann (Ger) Germany | 0:01:47 |
| 28 | Anthonin Didier (Fra) France | 0:01:54 |
| 29 | Toon Aerts (Bel) Belgium | 0:02:12 |
| 30 | Yannick Gruner (Ger) Germany | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
| 31 | Yorben Van Tichelt (Bel) Belgium | 0:02:24 |
| 32 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) Belgium | 0:02:27 |
| 33 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Italy | 0:02:29 |
| 34 | Douwe Verberne (Ned) Netherlands | 0:02:42 |
| 35 | Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) Italy | 0:03:39 |
| 36 | Kevin Suarez Fernandez (Spa) Spain | 0:04:24 |
| 37 | Tomas Svoboda (Cze) Czech Republic | 0:05:35 |
| 1 | Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Belgium | 177 | pts |
| 2 | Daniel Peeters (Bel) Belgium | 138 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| 3 | Clément Venturini (Fra) France | 137 | Row 2 - Cell 3 |
| 4 | Lars Forster (Swi) Switzerland | 130 | Row 3 - Cell 3 |
| 5 | Vojtech Nipl (Cze) Czech Republic | 118 | Row 4 - Cell 3 |
| 6 | Diether Sweeck (Bel) Belgium | 114 | Row 5 - Cell 3 |
| 7 | Quentin Jauregui (Fra) France | 106 | Row 6 - Cell 3 |
| 8 | Stan Godrie (Ned) Netherlands | 91 | Row 7 - Cell 3 |
| 9 | Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Netherlands | 90 | Row 8 - Cell 3 |
| 10 | Jaap De Man (Ned) Netherlands | 90 | Row 9 - Cell 3 |
| 11 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) France | 84 | Row 10 - Cell 3 |
| 12 | Tomas Medek (Cze) Czech Republic | 77 | Row 11 - Cell 3 |
| 13 | Jakub Skala (Cze) Czech Republic | 75 | Row 12 - Cell 3 |
| 14 | Jens Vandekinderen (Bel) Belgium | 73 | Row 13 - Cell 3 |
| 15 | Yannick Eckmann (Ger) Germany | 72 | Row 14 - Cell 3 |
| 16 | Yorben Van Tichelt (Bel) Belgium | 71 | Row 15 - Cell 3 |
| 17 | Kévin Bouvard (Fra) France | 69 | Row 16 - Cell 3 |
| 18 | Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Germany | 68 | Row 17 - Cell 3 |
| 19 | Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Belgium | 48 | Row 18 - Cell 3 |
| 20 | Federico Zurlo (Ita) Italy | 41 | Row 19 - Cell 3 |
| 21 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) Spain | 41 | Row 20 - Cell 3 |
| 22 | Daan Soete (Bel) Belgium | 35 | Row 21 - Cell 3 |
| 23 | Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) Italy | 34 | Row 22 - Cell 3 |
| 24 | Toon Aerts (Bel) Belgium | 34 | Row 23 - Cell 3 |
| 25 | Romain Seigle (Fra) France | 26 | Row 24 - Cell 3 |
| 26 | Tomas Bohata (Cze) Czech Republic | 23 | Row 25 - Cell 3 |
| 27 | Loic Doubey (Fra) France | 22 | Row 26 - Cell 3 |
| 28 | Douwe Verberne (Ned) Netherlands | 21 | Row 27 - Cell 3 |
| 29 | Daan Hoeyberghs (Bel) Belgium | 18 | Row 28 - Cell 3 |
| 30 | Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Netherlands | 14 | Row 29 - Cell 3 |
| 31 | Maxim Panis (Bel) Belgium | 14 | Row 30 - Cell 3 |
| 32 | Matthias Van De Velde (Bel) Belgium | 14 | Row 31 - Cell 3 |
| 33 | Anthony Turgis (Fra) France | 13 | Row 32 - Cell 3 |
| 34 | Justin Mottier (Fra) France | 12 | Row 33 - Cell 3 |
| 35 | Kevin Ledanois (Fra) France | 12 | Row 34 - Cell 3 |
| 36 | Fabian Lienhard (Swi) Switzerland | 12 | Row 35 - Cell 3 |
| 37 | Nicolas Rigaud (Fra) France | 10 | Row 36 - Cell 3 |
| 38 | Julian Lehmann (Ger) Germany | 9 | Row 37 - Cell 3 |
| 39 | Jan Dieteren (Ger) Germany | 8 | Row 38 - Cell 3 |
| 40 | Twan Brusselman (Ned) Netherlands | 7 | Row 39 - Cell 3 |
| 41 | Tomas Svoboda (Cze) Czech Republic | 7 | Row 40 - Cell 3 |
| 42 | Jorn Claes (Bel) Belgium | 7 | Row 41 - Cell 3 |
| 43 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) France | 6 | Row 42 - Cell 3 |
| 44 | Anthonin Didier (Fra) France | 3 | Row 43 - Cell 3 |
| 45 | Andrew Dillman (USA) United States | 2 | Row 44 - Cell 3 |
| 46 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Switzerland | 2 | Row 45 - Cell 3 |
| 47 | Dominic Zumstein (Swi) Switzerland | 2 | Row 46 - Cell 3 |
| 48 | Yannick Gruner (Ger) Germany | 1 | Row 47 - Cell 3 |
| 49 | Wojciech Malec (Pol) Poland | 1 | Row 48 - Cell 3 |
| 50 | Emil Arvid Olsen (Den) Denmark | 1 | Row 49 - Cell 3 |
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