After four days of racing, a bunch finish was supposed to conclude the Boucles de la Mayenne in Laval on Sunday. However, two men from the early breakaway managed to hold off the peloton, which was also disturbed by a crash in the last kilometre. Due to this incident, Paul Penhoët was unable to make his sprint, and Marc Sarreau therefore went to grab sixth place. Overall, Sam Watson secured his fourth place, Paul Penhoët claimed ninth.
About 170 kilometers were on the riders’ menu to complete the Boucles de la Mayenne this Sunday. They also had to cover 140 before coming to the streets of Laval, where a six-kilometre circuit had to be done four times. The morning breakaway, very quickly established around Gorka Soarrarain (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Valentin Retailleau (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Tars Poelvoorde (Lotto-Dstny), Mathias Norsgaard (Movistar), Erik Fetter and Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti-Kometa), still had a one-minute lead when entering the finishing circuit. “EF Education-EasyPost and TotalEnergies controlled the breakaway all day, leaving only a small gap,” said William Green. “When we approached the circuit, we were very relaxed the first two laps. We knew that it was easy to move up.” The Groupama-FDJ squad waited until the last lap to get into position, while the last men from the breakaway kept a short fifteen-second gap. “We came back at the right time, at four kilometres to go with Thibaud,” explained William. “Everything was going very well for the sprint strategy. We turned the corner first with two kilometres to go and we were still in the lead in the last kilometre.”
“It will eventually pay off”, William Green
However, the breakaway still had a few seconds at that point, and they fully took advantage of it after a crash occurred in the back in the last corner of the circuit. “Zingle tried to go around the outside on the last corner and the crash had already happened,” added William. “Zingle moved back in, and Paul had to brake hard. He lost Marc’s wheel and couldn’t get back into it. The crash indirectly impacted Paul’s sprint and Marc therefore ended up sprinting.” A few metres behind Retailleau, an eventual winner ahead of the peloton, the 30-year-old Frenchman took sixth place. “The breakaway was solid, so congratulations to them,” William continued. “For us, it’s really disappointing, because we once again showed that we have a solid lead-out, like in Dunkirk. But for one reason or another, it hasn’t turned into a victory yet.” It is therefore with two stage podiums, two top-10s and Sam Watson’s fourth place overall that the team completed the Boucles de la Mayenne 2024. “Honestly, we can’t change much”, concluded William. “We are very pleased with the week and the way the team is functioning together. We’re now heading to Slovenia with some similar riders and we’re just going to keep trying, and doing what we’re doing, and it will eventually pay off.”