On Sunday, the Cholet Agglo Tour looked a bit like an elimination race at times. Due to continuous downpours and wet roads, many crashes occurred in the last fifty kilometres on the final circuit. It was also a crash that allowed the day’s top two riders to break away with twenty-five kilometres to go. Right behind the split at that point, Paul Penhoët then tried to lead the chase within a small group, but it didn’t prove successful. Lukas Kubis claimed victory, and Cyril Barthe took eighth place in the peloton.
Over the 200 kilometres planned around Cholet, the peloton was ready for a tough day on Sunday. Rain showers were expected throughout the day, and unfortunately for the riders, the forecasts proved reliable. First, they needed to avoid any trouble, while a six-man breakaway established itself. “The goal for us was to be conservative at first and wait until the final circuit approached to get into action,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “That’s exactly what happened.” Around Paul Penhoët, the Groupama-FDJ squad regrouped at the head of the peloton with around sixty kilometres to go. The finishing circuit, to be completed seven times, was then tackled, and a whole new race began. “We know that when it rains on urban circuits, it all becomes extremely complicated,” said Thierry. “The scenario changes completely. This was confirmed today with a huge number of crashes and splits.”
“The stars weren’t aligned”, Thierry Bricaud
The race nevertheless remained under control during the first laps, and the breakaway was caught with about thirty-five kilometres to go. The attacks then occurred within a peloton fragmented by various incidents, but Paul Penhoët’s teammates helped control these various attacks. Further accelerations happened a bit later, but that wasn’t what made the difference on Sunday. “We first got through the incidents, but the decisive breakaway went following a crash after a roundabout,” Thierry explained. “Cyril and Paul were in fifth and sixth positions, right behind. From then on, the race completely opened up.” Lukas Kubis and Benjamin Thomas, joined by Niklas Larsen, took a fifteen-second lead, and the peloton, or at least what was left of it, struggled to chase efficiently. This is why Paul Penhoët joined the counterattacks with just over two laps to go. “It was the right time to do it because there were no teammates left in almost all the teams,” Thierry said.This group of six chasers came back at ten seconds but didn’t manage to bridge across because of a lack of collaboration. “They didn’t come back because they didn’t work well together,” Thierry added. “Paul was frustrated, but maybe not everyone had an interest in riding with him…” These chasers were then caught by a small peloton on the last lap, but the leading group still had enough of a margin to fight for victory, a handful of seconds ahead. Lukas Kubis took the victory, while Cyril Barthe placed eighth in the peloton. “Paul said on the last lap that he didn’t have great legs after all the effort, so Cyril did the sprint, but it doesn’t really matter, because that’s not what we came for,” concluded Thierry. “The boys were a bit gutted in the bus, but when you look back at the race, we mostly lacked a bit of luck in the final. It’s a frustrating day because we followed the briefing well, but the stars weren’t aligned, despite their commitment. They were in position, the crash happened just in front of them, and that’s how it is. It just didn’t go our way today.”
