A week after the Grand Prix de Fourmies, the peloton was back in the North of France this Sunday for the Grand Prix d’Isbergues, with a similar outcome: a bunch sprint and a victory for Arvid De Kleijn. On the other hand, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team did better this weekend and Laurence Pithie was able to claim second place at the finish. Paul Penhoët also took part in the sprint and got seventh place.
Despite a challenging section halfway through the race, the usual scenario couldn’t be avoided this Sunday on the Grand Prix d’Isbergues, over the 200 kilometres making up this final round of the FDJ French Cup. “Six riders broke away quite early, and they never had more than a 2’30 lead,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “Tudor immediately took on the chase with Q36.5. We were expecting a bit of action in the climbs at the halfway point because some teams weren’t really interested in the sprint, but almost nothing happened. There was just a race incident after a crash fifty kilometres from the finish. There were no more ambulances available, so the race was neutralized for a few minutes. When we got going again, the gap was around one minute and forty seconds, and it wasn’t really getting any smaller. We were a bit scared because once you get to the circuit, it goes very fast. So we took part in the chase with Clément Davy to bring the break back.” On the four final ten-kilometre laps around Isbergues, Groupama-FDJ did quite a bit of work, and the gap was only twenty seconds when the bell rang announcing the last loop.
“I’m happy with the podium”, Laurence Pithie
The last man standing from the break, Jasper De Buyst, was caught three kilometres from the finish, then the sprint set up in quite a hectic way. “Laurence was supposed to lead out Paul, Cyril and Marc had to position them before, but we were forced to use some of our guys earlier than expected,” commented Frédéric. “Above all, it was a very messy sprint. Paul actually suffered a collision just two kilometres from the finish and he lost Laurence’s wheel. He managed to get back in the last kilometre, but he thought Laurence was about to crack a little and decided not to stay on his wheel until the end. He made a small mistake, but it’s always easy to say that afterwards.” The New Zealander was eventually able to continue his effort in the last few hundred metres, even getting in the mix for victory. “I sprinted to second,” said Laurence. “It wasn’t the initial plan, but it’s still a good result for the team. Personally, I’m happy with the podium and it’s always nice to get such a result at the end of the season. On to the Tour de Luxembourg!” “We saved the day with this second place,” concluded Frédéric. “Even if it’s not what we came for, it’s still a pretty positive result.”
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