On the muddy vineyard paths of Paris-Tours U23, “La Conti” Groupama-FDJ competed in its last race of the year as a team on Sunday. Like other squads, it was however surprised by the early breakaway that got the better of the peloton after the day’s 179 kilometers. Noah Hobbs (9th) and Lewis Bower (11th) had to settle for the remaining positions, less than a minute behind the winner. A chapter has closed, although the Chrono des Nations will serve as the last race of the season.
With eight climbs and ten vineyard sectors, the final of the U23 Race was identical to that of the elite’s one on Sunday at Paris-Tours. However, the race was actually decided much earlier, after a very fast first hour of racing. “A group of eight was joined by a group of five to form a breakaway of thirteen,” summed up Alex Chouffe. “Titouan and Jens were our cards for the break, but Titouan was in the convoy when the group established because of a puncture. Jens had made efforts beforehand and was not well placed when the move went. We also wanted to keep Ronan, Lewis, and Noah for the final. The leading group took three minutes, and we asked Jens to pull because we didn’t want the gap to increase any further. He did a great job to keep it at three minutes, and also to encourage other teams to close this gap in the last fifty kilometres.” Over the first few sectors, the gap reduced a bit, but the breakaway still kept a lead of more than two minutes before the last 50k.
“I’m proud of the boys”, Alex Chouffe
“There were a lot of punctures and crashes in the sectors, the teams were a bit disorganised, and there weren’t enough teammates to work”, explained Alex. “We were always in a good position with our three cards, but always 1’30-2′ from the breakaway which was also made up of strong men. In a normal race scenario, it could have come back, but with teams of five riders, things were more complicated today given the course and the conditions”. With twenty kilometres to go, the peloton did come back at 1’30, but it proved then unable to close the whole gap in the last, flat ten kilometres towards Tours. Antoine L’Hote claimed victory solo and the pack finished fifty seconds later, fighting for eighth place. Noah Hobbs and Lewis Bower took second and fourth positions in the sprint, which meant ninth and eleventh on the day. “We had our cards for the final, and we used them,” said Alex. “We can just regret that it wasn’t for victory. If we had caught the breakaway, we would surely have fought for the win, and that’s a whole different story.”
“La Conti” eventually completed its last road race of the season with a slight disappointment, the day after Brieuc Rolland’s fantastic victory on Il Lombardia U23. “We were in the mix until the end, and I am proud of the boys, whether in Italy or here,” concluded Alex. “We were there from the start of the season in Rwanda to Paris-Tours and Il Lombardia, and the team had a very good time this year. The riders who leave us do it with a smile and without any bitterness. It was important. Until the last race, we kept this friendship spirit and a super good atmosphere, which is very valuable to me. We have spent two great years with some, who have learned a lot and progressed. The whole staff can be proud of them. We are ending the season with twelve victories for our riders. We started with a very young team two years ago. We are coming to the end of a cycle, we are going to start another one”.
Finally, the U23 French time trial champion, Maxime Decomble, as well as Titouan Fontaine, will represent “La Conti” for the very last time this season on the U23 Nations Chrono on Sunday.
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