A year after Valentin Madouas’ victory on home soil, in Plouay, the Groupama-FDJ cycling team naturally had great ambitions for the Bretagne Classic. Unfortunately, the race scenario did not go its way. Although Romain Grégoire made a great attack for fifteen kilometres in the final, it was Marc Hirschi who took the win on the line, just ahead of the peloton. Within it, Thibaud Gruel secured a remarkable eighth place for his first Classic at WorldTour level.
The distance of the Bretagne Classic, this Sunday, was quite similar to that of last year, on the bumpy roads around Plouay. However, one clear difference was to be noted. “Compared to previous years, there were no gravel sectors and we thought that it would be more packed and that it could come to a sprint,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. Only two men took part in the day’s breakaway, Silvan Dillier and Christopher Juul-Jensen, and the peloton let the gap pass the ten-minute mark before gradually coming back in the second half of the course. “For us, the goal was to open the race from quite far back,” added Benoît. “We wanted to go for it from km 190 and that’s about the time we suffered a crash. We lost Sam, and Romain was delayed for the second time.” “I was caught in two small crashes,” explained the young man. “On the first one, I just put my foot down. On the second one, I went over the bike, but without too much damage because I landed on the grass.” However, he was forced to chase twice to get back to a peloton where the action wasn’t frenetic. “The race was a bit blocked, there weren’t that many moves,” said Benoît. “The breakaway was caught early, we thought it would open up the race again, but there were still far too many domestiques.”
“I had to try,” Romain Grégoire
Entering the last fifty kilometres, a few attacks did occur, but this never created real differences. “It’s not really the race we were hoping for,” confirmed Romain. “But without the gravel sectors, with perfect weather and a very homogeneous peloton, the race was made easier and didn’t do the damage we wanted.” Yet, the former European junior champion did give it a try. “We refocused as we wanted on the two climbs preceding the finishing circuit, and in particular the Côte de Marta, where Romain attacked,” said Benoît. “But once again, no one followed. It’s a shame nobody went with him.” “I had to try on the most difficult climb of the day, about thirty kilometres from the finish,” explained the young man. “Unfortunately, I found myself all alone and I didn’t really believe in it. I was hoping to get a bit of support to get to the finish.” However, no one was able to really go clear from the peloton, and Romain Grégoire then led the way alone for about fifteen kilometres, with a gap of 20 seconds at best. His attempt was eventually neutralized fifteen kilometres from the finish, and the peloton came together for the finishing circuit.
“That’s not too bad,” Thibaud Gruel
A strong acceleration split up the pack on the penultimate climb, but it was on the final one that Marc Hirschi was able to break away solo. The peloton got back together behind him but was unable to catch the Swiss man, who won with a lead of a few metres. Behind him, Thibaud Gruel got involved in the mix. “I was still going pretty well on the climbs in the final,” he said. “When it got hard, I was pretty much in front and there were still three of us in the main group. I tried to position myself as best I could to get a result in the sprint, but I was a bit boxed in. I was coming in with speed from behind, but I didn’t really find the opening to pass and do a bit better than eighth.” “It still saved the day because we didn’t really have a sprinter,” said Benoît. “Thibaud took the initiative to sprint and chapeau to him. That’s great to see from a young rider. This eighth place is the day’s satisfaction, and we could see that Thibaud is doing very well in this kind of race. It wasn’t an easy task to be there after 260 km. It’s very promising for the coming years”. “I was a little frustrated when I crossed the line, but it was my first WorldTour Classic today, so coming away with a top-10, that’s not too bad,” smiled Thibaud.
Despite a decent result, Groupama-FDJ left Brittany on Sunday with a bit of frustration. “We are disappointed with the race scenario, which did not go our way,” concluded Benoît. “Romain showed that he’s in good shape, that he’s one of the strongest, but we can’t be satisfied with that. We want to get results.” “In the end, we can’t regret the approach,” added Romain. “We just can’t choose the race scenario alone, and today the group finish was almost inevitable. We really did what we could.”
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