With the exception of the French National Championships, Groupama-FDJ United’s Development Team (“La Conti”) had not raced together since the Giro Next Gen in mid-June. From Friday through Monday, the squad was therefore back in action at the 2026 Kreiz Breizh Elites, a UCI Class 2 event in Brittany, where they faced a demanding challenge. In the end, the Besançon-based team left with three stage top-10 finishes and three riders inside the overall top-20. A solid return to racing.
Last Friday, “La Conti” lined up in Grâces, in the Côtes-d’Armor department, for a 12.8-kilometre team time trial that served as the opening stage of the 2026 Kreiz Breizh Elites. “It was quite a technical time trial and quite difficult to manage because it ended with a 1.5-kilometre climb at 4.5%,” explained Jérôme Gannat. “Even so, we came in confident because we had prepared well for this effort in Besançon. It was hard to know where we would stand against the other teams beforehand, but we were aiming for a top-five finish, and we achieved that objective.” Officially, “La Conti” finished sixth, recording the same time as the team ahead of them and ending just ten seconds behind the winners. “We were second at the intermediate checkpoint, only one second off the fastest time,” Jérôme added. “We were on course for a strong performance, but that final kilometre hurt us a little. Still, it was a good ride with excellent teamwork. The work we put in beforehand paid off because we maximized the team’s potential.” It was then an encouraging start, which the riders hoped to build on the following day during a gruelling 200-kilometre stage. The latter featured a hilly finishing circuit to be done seven times. After an attritional race, two breakaway riders narrowly held off the peloton. “We struggled a bit in the final, but the important thing was to finish with the reduced peloton on such a difficult stage,” said Jérôme. “Yann [Dubois] (9th) and Esteban [Foucher] finished on the same time, but Reef [Roberts] unfortunately lost thirty seconds on the final lap.”
“The result doesn’t reflect Reef’s performance” – Jérôme Gannat
Everything was still to play for ahead of Sunday’s third stage to Carhaix, “which everyone was describing as the queen stage,” Jérôme noted. On an extremely demanding course, a strong breakaway gradually took shape over the laps of the finishing circuit, eventually growing to nearly ten riders. Unfortunately, there weren’t any members from “La Conti.” Eight riders eventually crossed the line forty-four seconds ahead of a peloton reduced to barely thirty riders. “We never really managed to influence the race, but we still had three riders in that reduced peloton,” Jérôme explained. “That was reassuring in terms of our physical condition. Based on that, we knew we had to be more proactive, to animate the race and take our chances. We needed to raise our level, and that was the mindset we took into the final stage.” Sitting slightly down in the overall standings, Jérôme Gannat’s riders went all in on Monday’s final 190-kilometre round. “There was a major selection midway through the race, with a lot of attacks in the peloton,” Jérôme recalled. “As we entered the finishing circuit, Reef bridged across on his own to a group of around ten riders at the front. They worked well together but never built a significant gap. Reef then accelerated and found himself alone with seventy kilometres still to go. Smartly, he waited for some moves to happen behind him, and five riders eventually bridged across.”
Behind him, his teammates also played an active role. Esteban Foucher launched a move in pursuit before Yann Dubois made a more decisive counterattack alongside two other riders. “It was a nice chasing group,” Jérôme Gannat said. “They stayed together for about twenty kilometres before Jermaine Zemke, the eventual overall winner, attacked and bridged across alone.” With just over one lap remaining, the lead group had grown to seven riders, who kept on attacking and looking at each other during the final loop around Rostrenen. “It was an incredibly demanding course, but we could see that the peloton wasn’t coming back on breakaway, where Reef was doing a huge amount of work,” Jérôme recalled. “In the final, Reef attacked several times but never managed to make the decisive split. After the final climb, Guillaume Adam countered him, and nobody reacted. Reef tried one last time, but he no longer had the legs. He was completely empty and even lost a little time on the uphill finish, crossing the line in seventh place. Naturally, it was disappointing because he doesn’t often get the chance to fight for victory. Perhaps that showed in the final: he showed how strong he was, he chased everyone down. The result doesn’t reflect his performance. It didn’t pay off this time, but it will in the future.”
“We can be satisfied” – Jérôme Gannat
Around twelve seconds behind the New Zealander, the first riders from the reduced peloton reached the finish. Yann Dubois (20th on the stage) and Esteban Foucher (33rd) fought all the way to the line, securing places inside the overall top twenty alongside their Kiwi teammate. “Esteban finished sixteenth overall, Reef seventeenth and Yann nineteenth,” Jérôme said. “Of course, those placings are somewhat anecdotal because they’re not huge results in themselves, but there were plenty of encouraging signs, and they could even have hoped for better. Reef lost thirty seconds on the second day, while Yann lost a bit of time because of a small mistake in the time trial. Most importantly, Reef’s physical condition was very reassuring. Esteban confirmed his excellent form after finishing runner-up at the French U23 Championships, and Yann is already back to a very high level. Excluding the National Championships, he hadn’t raced since April because of a knee problem. He finished all three road stages inside the top twenty, which is an excellent achievement for an 18-year-old rider. Overall, we can be satisfied with this race, especially with the final stage, because we were actively involved. That’s the first thing we ask of our young riders: to be protagonists in their races.”
