Tro-Bro Leon 2017 [LAST 30 KM]

April 17, 2017

Tro-Bro Leon 2017 – Le Carpont Plouguin – Lannilis – 203 km

Tro-Bro Léon (English: Tour of Léon, French: Tour du Léon) is a professional cycle road race held in Finistère, Brittany. The event was first run in 1984 as an amateur race, becoming a professional race since 2000. The race was established in 2005 as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.

Damien Gaudin (Armée de Terre) sealed the victory in Monday’s Tro-Bro Léon, out-sprinting Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) out of the two man breakaway. Benjamin Giraud (Delko Marseille) won the sprint for third.

The leading duo had just seconds on the peloton as they rode under the 1km-to-go to go banner, but they managed to hold off the sprint behind by seven seconds. It was Gaudin’s second win of a renaissance season that also included a stage victory in the Tour de Normandie. Before stepping down from the WorldTour this season, Gaudin’s last win was the Cholet – Pays De Loire in 2013.

The former AG2R-La Mondiale rider wanted to prove himself on the gravel roads of Brittany one week after Paris-Roubaix as he missed his favorite classic due to his relegation in a third division team. He did so emphatically at Tro-Bro Léon, claiming Armée de Terre’s second win in the French Cup series in three days after Julien Loubet came first at the Tour du Finistère on Saturday.

“Cycling is a difficult sport,” Gaudin commented after his win. “When you work in the shadow with no reward, it’s a pain in the arse. Last week I was so bitter that I didn’t even watch TV. I went to train hard instead because I wanted to show that Gaudin can still be a bike rider. I looked at the results of Paris-Roubaix in the evening though.”

When he did get around to checking the final standings, Gaudin would see the names of Greg Van Avermaet and Zdenek Stybar in the first two positions; when Gaudin finished fifth in Roubaix in 2013, Van Avermaet was fourth and Stybar sixth. Then riding for Europcar, Gaudin joined AG2R-La Mondiale for the following three seasons but his contract wasn’t renewed at the end of last year, hence his move to the Armée de Terre, the Continental team of the French army.

“During the off season, I told them that the Tro-Bro Léon would be our Paris-Roubaix this year, as we don’t qualify for Paris-Roubaix as a continental team,” Gaudin said. “End of March and April is always my best period. After the GP Denain on Thursday, I flew to Brest to prepare for the Tro-Bro Léon the same way I used to prepare for Paris-Roubaix. I reconned the whole 180km of the course.”

“In 2013, I won the prologue of Paris-Nice and Cholet-Pays de Loire, which is my home race,” he said. “But today it’s my most beautiful victory. The Tro-Bro Léon is mythical. It’s a second Paris-Roubaix.” Aged 30, the Frenchman hasn’t given up his dreams in the Hell of the North. “I’ve come fifth in Roubaix, I can make the podium, I can even win it one day,” he insisted.

A few minutes after winning Tro-Bro Léon, he received a congratulatory message from French defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who has been a driving force behind the army team. The manner in which Gaudin claimed Monday’s win was a convincing one, as he rode away with 50 kilometres to go.

“When I found myself at the front with Frederik Backaert, I knew he was someone who rides hard like me,” he said. “He was the right companion to have. Only in the last lap he wasn’t pulling anymore.”

With FDJ doing most of the work and mainly Matthieu Ladagnous chasing to bridge the gap for a sprint finish to favor Arnaud Démare, the leading duo was just 15 seconds ahead with three kilometres to go. “I thought we’d come across because FDJ and AG2R-La Mondiale both rode for that,” third-placed Benjamin Giraud of told Cyclingnews. “They were very strong at the front. I’m very happy to be third.”

Backaert, on the other hand, wasn’t content wth his podium spot. “I’m very disappointed because the Tro-Bro Léon is the nicest race of the year for me,” he said. “I don’t know how to sprint. Maybe I sprinted from too far out.”

Laurent Pichon of Fortuneo-Vital Concept finished fourth to retain the lead in the French Cup standings.

Results :
1 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Armee de Terre 4:50:22
2 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:00:02
3 Benjamin Giraud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:00:07
4 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
5 Kevin Le Cunff (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
6 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
7 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ
8 Damien Touze (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
9 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie
10 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
11 Fabien Canal (Fra) Armee de Terre
12 Julien Loubet (Fra) Armee de Terre
13 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
14 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
15 Erwann Corbel (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
16 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
17 Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
19 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:10
20 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
21 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
22 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:27
23 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ 0:00:35
24 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ 0:01:08
25 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:12
26 Mihkel Räim (Est) Israel Cycling Academy
27 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:14
28 Félix Pouilly (Fra) Roubaix – Lille Metropole 0:01:42
29 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Armee de Terre
30 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
31 Alo Jakin (Est) HP BTP – Auber 93
32 Angel Madrazo (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:01:44
33 Connor Swift (GBr) Madison Genesis
34 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ 0:01:49
35 Hugo Houle (Can) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:51
36 Gaetan Bille (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:04:08
37 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Joker Icopal 0:04:11
38 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
39 Jeremy Cornu (Fra) Direct Energie 0:04:16
40 Torkil Veyhe (Den) Coloquick – Cult 0:04:23
41 Dennis Bakker (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam 0:05:23
42 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Cibel – Cebon 0:05:28
43 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
44 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
45 Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Madison Genesis
46 Kevin De Jonghe (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
47 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
48 Robby Cobbaert (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
49 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
50 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
51 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Roubaix – Lille Metropole
52 Joeri Stallaert (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
53 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie 0:05:33
54 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:37
55 Jetse Bol (Ned) Manzana Postobon
56 Ike Groen (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam 0:09:17
57 Kenny Dehaes (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert 0:10:23
58 Martin Mortensen (Den) Coloquick – Cult
59 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
60 Tyler Williams (USA) Israel Cycling Academy 0:10:55
61 Nico Denz (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale
62 Christian Moberg Jörgensen (Den) Coloquick – Cult
63 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
64 Gotzon Udondo Santamaria (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias 0:13:54
DNF Rune Almindso Andersen (Den) Coloquick – Cult
DNF Magnus Bak Klaris (Den) Coloquick – Cult
DNF Dennis Herforth Jensen (Den) Coloquick – Cult
DNF Mathias Krigbaum (Den) Coloquick – Cult
DNF Rasmus Wallin (Den) Coloquick – Cult
DNF Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Sondre Holst Enger (Nor) AG2R La Mondiale
DNF Marc Fournier (Fra) FDJ
DNF Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
DNF Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ
DNF Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ
DNF Rayane Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Clement Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Yannick Martinez (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
DNF Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Florian Vachon (Fra) Fortuneo – Vital Concept
DNF Dan Craven (Nam) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Benjamin Perry (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Hamish Schreurs (NZl) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Yecid Arturo Sierra (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Juan Jose Amador (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Juan Pablo Villegas (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Jhojan Garcia (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Sergio Andres Higuita (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Bernardo Suaza (Col) Manzana Postobon
DNF Sander Cordeel (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Christophe Prémont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Stef Van Zummeren (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Michael Goolaerts (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
DNF Simone Antonini (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Robin Stenuit (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
DNF Jimmy Raibaud (Fra) Armee de Terre
DNF Kevin Lebreton (Fra) Armee de Terre
DNF Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Armee de Terre
DNF Yannis Yssaad (Fra) Armee de Terre
DNF Nicolas Baldo (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
DNF Flavien Dassonville (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
DNF Pierre Gouault (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
DNF Anthony Maldonado (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
DNF Jeremy Bescond (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
DNF Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Roubaix – Lille Metropole
DNF Joeri Calleeuw (Bel) Roubaix – Lille Metropole
DNF Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Roubaix – Lille Metropole
DNF Lander Seynaeve (Bel) Roubaix – Lille Metropole
DNF Wim Reynaerts (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
DNF Brecht Ruyters (Bel) Cibel – Cebon
DNF Luuc Bugter (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam
DNF Mitchell Mulhern (Aus) Delta Cycling Rotterdam
DNF Pastoor Gerco (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam
DNF Jordi Talen (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam
DNF Jens Van Den Dool (Ned) Delta Cycling Rotterdam
DNF Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
DNF Adrian Gonzalez Velasco (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
DNF Eneko Lizarralde Delgado (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
DNF Pello Olaberria Arruabarrena (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country – Murias
DNF Vegard Breen (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Bjorn Tore Hoem (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Iver Johan Knotten (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Kristoffer Skjerping (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Adrian Aas Stien (Nor) Joker Icopal
DNF Alexandre Blain (Fra) Madison Genesis
DNF Matthew Cronshaw (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Richard Handley (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Tobyn Horton (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Erick Rowsell (GBr) Madison Genesis
DNF Taylor Karl Gunman (NZl) Madison Genesis