Wout van Aert colors the race and wins Brittany Classic-Ouest France
Sunday 28 August 2022 at 16:57
Wout van Aert took the victory in the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France with a mighty sprint. After a hilly course of almost 255 kilometers through Brittany, the Jumbo-Visma leader was the first to finish in the WorldTour race. Van Aert raced very offensively, but did not get away with a small group. After that he managed to win the sprint of a big favorite group, ahead of Axel Laurence and Alexander Kamp.
Immediately from the start, Jumbo-Visma took control of the peloton. The Dutch team controlled the pack behind a leading group of six, consisting of Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-KTM), Luke Rowe (INEOS Grenadiers), Yevgeniy Gidich (Astana Qazaqstan), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), Johan Meens (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB) and Martin Urianstad (Uno-X).
Jumbo-Visma controls the peloton – photo: Cor Vos
Shadow favorites on the attack
The lead of that six never became more than five minutes. More than sixty kilometers before the finish, the race was broken open in the peloton. Aurélien Paret-Peintre opened the attack and got nine men, including Jan Tratnik, Matteo Trentin, Kevin Enjoys and Andrea Piccolo. That group joined the early breakaways 47 kilometers from the finish, so that fifteen went into the last 40 kilometers with a lead.
The pack gave them no more than a minute. Thirty kilometers before the finish we saw a first gear among the favourites. Wout van Aert and Biniam Girmay, among others, showed themselves and caused some commotion, but they did not get away. Meanwhile, in the leading group, Tratnik drove away from the leading group on Bosse du Marta and Van Aert also let his legs speak.
The leading group with Chris Hamilton, center – photo: Cor Vos
Wout van Aert opens the debates
The Jumbo-Visma leader managed to close the gap to the liberated from the leading group on his own, more than 25 kilometers before the finish. It turned out to be a faded arrow, because the competition managed to close the gap again. That happened half a minute from Tratnik and 20 seconds from the chasing group with Piccolo and Trentin.
Just before turning on the local circuit, Van Aert shook the tree again, but it was nothing more than a pinprick. Fifteen kilometers before the finish, the riders turned onto the local track around Plouay. There followed Bosse de Kersoulic (225 meters at 8.9%), the finish passage at 11.7 kilometers, Bosse de Rostervel (1.5 km at 4.5%), Bosse du Lezot (900 meters at 5.3%) and again Bosse de Kersoulic.
Van Aert throws his powers
Tratnik, Piccolo and Samuele Zoccarato started with a half-minute pre-gift to that ultimate final. There Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert performed the work for Girmay. At Bosse de Rostervel, the favorites managed to halve the gap. Once again it was Van Aert who threw his forces, but it was clear that he was being targeted. It was the teams of Girmay and the (invisible) Arnaud De Lie who tried to control things.
At Bosse du Lezot Tratnik rode away alone again, but in his wake it was Van Aert who closed the gap with Valentin Madouas and Oliver Naesen. It fell silent again behind that, forcing the tireless Tratnik to try again. Not for the first time, Van Aert attacked, but this time too the gap was closed. A large elite group therefore sprinted for the win.
De Lie can’t surprise Van Aert
Lotto Soudal managed to push De Lie off very well in the last straight line, but the youngster couldn’t finish it. He was reassembled by Van Aert, who took the win with a firm sprint. He kept the surprising Axel Laurence (B&B Hotels) and the up-and-coming Alexander Kamp (Trek-Segafredo) behind him. De Lie was fourth and Naesen sixth.
photo: Color Vos
