Despite a few attacks and a morning breakaway that included Brieuc Rolland until 45 kilometres from the finish, the Gran Piemonte ended in a reduced bunch sprint this Thursday. French champion Romain Grégoire tried to find his way through the sprint, but was blocked in particular by a crash 300 metres from the line and could do no better than 16th at the finish. The Frenchman will now head to Paris-Tours, while the rest of the team will turn their attention to Il Lombardia.
Another day, and another race in Italy! Following the Giro dell’Emilia, the Coppa Bernocchi and the Tre Valli Varesine in recent days, the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team lined up for the start of the Gran Piemonte this Thursday, two days before the final Monument of the season. A much less demanding menu was on offer between Asti and Bra, however, with 2,500 metres of elevation gain spread over 185 kilometres. There were indeed several climbs along the route, but none featured particularly brutal gradients. That did not stop Brieuc Rolland from anticipating the action by joining a ten-man breakaway from the start. “The aim was to have someone up the road,” explained Benoît Vaugrenard. “We noticed recently that the peloton sometimes struggled to bring back breakaways. There was also a risk of rain towards the finish, so we had decided that we would get into the break if a good group of seven to ten riders formed. Brieuc was designated for this role, and he fulfilled it well. Unfortunately, they never gained much of an advantage because UAE Team Emirates-XRG set a very high pace behind.”
“Positioning was crucial” – Benoît Vaugrenard
As proof of it, the breakaway’s advantage was only one minute when the first of the two climbs to La Morra (7 km at 4%) started, 55 kilometres from the finish. At the summit, Brieuc Rolland was part of a trio of survivors, but they were about to be caught by the bunch. “UAE accelerated on the first ascent to reduce the peloton and make the race harder, and then we passed the finish line with one 35-kilometre lap remaining,” Benoît continued. “We quickly realized that it would probably come down to a sprint.” The French champion was focused solely on that objective on Thursday. “We had told Romain not to make any moves and to wait for the finish because we know he hasn’t been feeling his best recently,” Benoît explained. “The aim was to assess his situation as the race progressed. The others, on the other hand, had free rein before the finish.” Lorenzo Germani tried to take advantage of this on the final ascent of La Morra, but one kilometre after his move, Isaac Del Toro launched a devastating counter-attack that only Finn Fischer-Black was able to follow.
The two riders built a 30-second gap over a regrouped, yet slightly reduced peloton, where the chase was driven at full speed over the final five flat kilometres leading to the finish. The combined efforts of several teams paid off, and the Mexican rider was caught on the opening slopes of the uphill finish (1.3 km at 4%, followed by a final 400 metres of flat). Romain Grégoire then tried to move up on the left-hand side of the road, but was still around 15th position after passing the flamme rouge. “We knew that positioning was crucial, and we had studied the finish carefully,” Benoît added. “At 500 metres, the sprint was almost decided. There was a lot of fighting for position, and Romain said he hesitated a little at 800 metres. He didn’t go for it, and as a result he came through the final corner in the second row.” Like several other riders, the French puncheur was then slowed down by a crash as Dorian Godon sprinted to victory. “Romain doesn’t have his very best legs at the moment, but without the crash, he probably would have been closer to the top 10,” Benoît concluded. The Groupama-FDJ United rider ultimately finished 16th and will now return to France for Paris-Tours on Sunday.