Laporte conquers ribin roads in Tro Bro Léon
Apr 16 2018 12:55 am CET
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS FEEDSChristophe Laporte (Cofidis) won the Tro Bro Léon by a solo attack in the final 5 kilometres. He was first to arrive in Lannilis after a race of 203 kilometres, only seconds ahead of Damien Gaudin (Direct Energie).
A week after the Hell of the North, it was time for the Hell of the West, as the Tro Bro Léon is nicknamed. This name was not given for no reason. The race takes the riders through the heartland of Brittany, covering over 33 kilometres of ribinoù, the famous gravel paths that remind the riders of both the cobbles of Roubaix and the sterrata of the Strade Bianche.
A small breakaway formed early on in the race. Three men escaped and the peloton was happy to let them go. Albanian champion Ylber Sefa together with Kevin de Jonghe (both Tarteletto-Isorex) and Gianni Marchand (Cibel-Cebon) earned an advantage of more than eight minutes. Behind them the peloton broke in two parts on the 4th sector, but regrouped quickly after. Then the crosswinds broke the peloton in groups again when the peloton approached the coast again.
From the first of these a smaller group including Stijn Vandenbergh (AG2R-La Mondiale) bridged to the front, while a bit later another group including Laporte joined as well.
With 17 kilometres to go Team Joker Icopal pushed hard and their young Norwegian champion, Rasmus Tiller, escaped alone. He looked very strong until he fell in a sharp corner, slippery because of the heavy rainfall. The chasers, including Laporte, Mauro Finetto (Delko Marseille Provence KTM) and Matthieu Ladagnous (Groupama-FDJ) caught Tiller and a group of 13 riders went to the final lap.
Laporte, even though he was the fastest of the group on paper, attacked just before entering the last lap. Last year’s winner, Gaudin, jumped after him, showing remarkable character after having been dropped a couple of times before. He chased and kept the gap around five seconds all the time, but after a thrilling final few kilometres Laporte was the one celebrating at the line.
By Siebe Kok
