Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) received the French nationwide title on native roads in Normandy, beating Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) in a three-up dash in Saint-Martin-de-Landelles.
The successful transfer took form with a shade below 70km to go, when Lapeira, Bernard and Gachinagnard, Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Rémi Capron (Van Rysel Roubaix) cast away from the peloton and opened a sizeable hole on a demanding circuit that included the climbs of the Côte de la Vallée and the Côte des Biards.
With two laps of the 16km circuit remaining, the escapees nonetheless had greater than a minute in hand on the bunch, the place there was one thing of a staccato rhythm to the pursuit. Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) splintered issues with an acceleration earlier than Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) threatened to alter the complexion of the race by operating by his repertoire.
Alaphilippe’s repeated efforts splintered the bunch and helped to scale back the hole to the escapees, however the former world champion couldn’t get away alone, and when as soon as he relented, the momentum appeared to tilt again in direction of the break.
Out in entrance, the on-form Lapeira sensed his alternative, and he attacked with intent on the penultimate lap, bringing Bernard and Gachignard with him. They mixed easily, carrying a 45-second lead into the ultimate 5km, whereas Alaphilippe and Valentin Madouas’ efforts behind have been snuffed out by the Decathlon-AG2R contingent.
Lapeira, already winner of three races in a breakout season, was the apparent favorite within the three-up dash, even when Bernard, so beneficiant in his efforts throughout the day, put up sport resistance to take silver.
The chasers got here dwelling simply over half a minute down, with Anthony Turgis taking fourth forward of TotalEnergies teammate Sandy Dujardin.
Results
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