Ninth round of the VSFrench FDJ teamthe 33rd edition of Morbihan Grand Prix saw the victory in beefyArnaud de Lie this Saturday in Plumelec! The all-terrain sprinter of the Lotto Dstny returns to success – his 4th in 2023 – thanks to a powerful sprint as he likes them at the top of the famous Cadoudal hill. At the end of a fairly dull and not very eventful race, everything was decided in the final ascent of the justice of the peace of the event. The Prodigy Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) started his sprint from afar and for a time thought he could raise his arms, but the 20-year-old Bisontin couldn’t cope with the return of the “Lescheret bull“. The Norwegian Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) completed the day’s podium. On the tricolor side, Clement Venturini (Team AG2R Citroën) finished 5th, Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) 6th, Axel Zingle (Cofidis) 9th.
Arnaud de Lie finished 50th in Paris-Roubaix
A breakaway of six runners resumed at 50 kms
For this 33rd edition, the start is given from the town of Josselin for 188.6km of race. Very quickly, a breakaway of six riders took off, with within it To Enekoitz Azpar, Iker Ballarin (Euskaltel – Euskadi), Jonathan Couanon (Nice Metropolis Côte d’Azur), Milan Fretin (Team Flanders – Baloise), Antonio Puppio (professional cycling team Q36.5) and Paul Wright (Bolton Equities Black Spoke). These six men will count up to almost five minutes before the formations TotalEnergies And you trust don’t come rolling to control the gap.
A lead which gradually diminishes as we enter the final circuit, to be covered thirteen times with in particular the famous Cadoudal coast, 1.7 kilometers long at 6.3% and at the top of which is drawn the line of ‘arrival. At 50 terminals from the goal, the peloton is only about thirty seconds away from the fugitives, who therefore decide to try their luck. Paul Wright attack with To Enekoitz Azparbut the duo is seen again sooner than expected following a violent fall by the Spaniard in a bend, which drags his companion with him. Four laps from the finish, we find the whole formation at the head of the pack Uno-X Professional Cycling Teamwho has ambitions for his sprinter Alexander Kristoffsecond in the race last year.
Arnaud De Lie winner in strong, Grégoire 2nd, Tiller 3rd
Emmanuel Morin (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) tries to pick up the pace and takes a few seconds lead, before being caught. The Frenchman is soon imitated by the Belgian Ceriel Desal (Bingoal WB), but these isolated attempts seem futile. When crossing the line (23 kms and 3 laps remaining), some riders from big teams accelerate, like Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Dstny), but everything is back to normal on the descent under the impetus of the A-Xwho want to promote a sprint. Again, the attacks fuse in the coast of Cadoudal, and the peloton passes fragmented on the line 15 km from the finish. But a general regrouping takes place once again just after. It is therefore a large peloton which approaches the last two laps of the circuit, the race having been not very selective and padlocked by the formations of sprinters so far.
Lorenzo Milesi (Team DSM) tries to shake things up on the penultimate climb, the pack stretches but stays compact as the bell rings! THE The TotalEnergies team takes things in hand in the descent, then relayed by the Groupama-FDJquiet from the start. We are heading at full speed towards the final climb and therefore a sprint uphill. The train Lotto Dstny takes place in the last 3 kilometres. The pace is very high and the selection is done from behind. Romain Gregoire launches the sprint from afar and makes the difference, but a Arnaud DeLie imperial manages to come back meter by meter and get ahead of the young Frenchman on the line!
