Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietema Rockets) secured the victory in a rain-soaked Cholet Agglo Tour after out-sprinting his breakaway companions to take the win on the streets of Cholet.
Kubiš was a part of a three-rider breakaway that held off the peloton by a whisker when he launched his dash inside 300 metres to take the win forward of Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) and Niklas Larsen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm).
Cholet Agglo Tour provided the peloton a 205km race out and in of Cholet, as a part of the Coupe de France. The route included ten categorised ascents throughout two distinct loops, with the ultimate 50km held on an area loop.
A six-rider early breakaway emerged that included Andrea Pietrobon (Team Polti-VisitMalta), Vojtěch Kmínek (Burgos Burpellet BH), Iker Mintegi (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Anton Muller (Team Novo Nordisk), Declan Irvine (Team Novo Nordisk) and Simon Bak (Bike Aid).
Teams Total Energies and Cofidis did the majority of the work setting the tempo on the entrance of the peloton, with contributions from Equipo Kern Pharma, Wagner Bazin WB and Unibet Tietema Rockets, to carry the hole right down to 1:45 earlier than they reached the ultimate circuits.
The breakaway was diminished to 5 and break up aside once more on the run-in to the circuits with Mintegi and Pietrobon pushing forward and distancing Kmínek, Irvine and Bak.
But as Mintegi and Pietrobon regarded over their shoulder it was clear their day trip entrance had come to and finish with the peloton simply 10 seconds behind after which making the catch with 40km to go.
Late-race assaults ensued that noticed splits within the peloton and a brand new entrance three energe that included Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis), Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and Niklas Larsen (BHS-PL Beton Bornholm).
Six riders launched a chase; Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies), Matyáš Kopecký (Novo Nordisk), Mirco Maestri (Polti VisitMalta) and Emmanuel Morin (Van Rysel Roubaix).
The gaps between the breakaway, the chase group and the sphere have been slim, hovering round 10 to twenty seconds because the race hit the final 10km. But a scarcity of organisation among the many chase group meant that they have been reeled again in by the sphere initially of the final native circuit.
Thomas, Kubiš and Larsen nonetheless had 15 seconds in hand as they raced beneath the flamme rouge with Larsen launching the primary assault however he was caught by his companions at 600 metres to go.
The three riders repositioned themselves for the dash to the road, understanding that this was the profitable breakaway. Kubiš was the subsequent to dash at 300 metres and he had sufficient left within the tank to carry off the opposite two to take the victory.
Results
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