After a race which was mainly animated by a 4 men breakaway, the 39th edition of Cholet-Pays de Loire saw the peloton coming back together even before the race got on the final circuit around Cholet and despite an attempt by Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) and several Belgian riders, the victory was decided in a bunch sprint. After a crash at 150 meters from the finish line, several sprinters and mainly Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) were not able to battle for this sprint and Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Métropole Européenne de Lille) won the race by crossing the line first.

The summary of Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016

Under the sun 122 riders got away for 210 kilometers of racing around Cholet.

Right from the start we saw several breakaway attempts but the one from Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale), Murilo Fischer (FDJ), Ryan Anderson (Direct Energie) and Yannis Yssaad (Armée de Terre) at kilometer 18 turned out to be the right one. One rider (Jaap de Man of Team 3M) started chasing alone but against the four breakaway riders, he and the peloton kept losing time. After 50 kilometers in the race the gap is at its maximum value, above 11 minutes!

Despite the peloton breaking up in several groups, it then starts to gain back some time on the leading group and at 120 kilometers the gap stabilises around 4'40". In the mean time, Maxime Daniel gets first on top of the first 7 climbs which are part of the "Challenge des 10 bosses" and the rider of the AG2R La Mondiale team thus naturally wins this challenge.

At about 80 kilometers from the finish, the peloton already starts to get back rather quickly on the breakaway, especially thanks to the efforts of the Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Roubaix Métropole Européenne de Lille teams and a bit later also the Direct Energie and Armée de Terre teams. While approaching the Côte de Roussay, the 8th climb of the challenge of the climbs, the breakaway is taken back by a first peloton because the accelleration led to the peloton splitting up in two main groups and several riders being dropped at the back.

The peloton is still controlled by the Armée de Terre and Direct Energie teams but Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale) manages to get away from the peloton twice, but he never gets a gap above 10 seconds. Controlled by the Direct Energie team, the peloton gets back on him just after the first crossing of the finish line and after the forelast climb we saw another rider getting away, Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise). When he is also taken back even before the last climb starts, the peloton can start the climb of the Côte de la Séguinière as a whole bunch. In this climb, Floris de Tier (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) try to get away but the Direct Energie team doesn't really give them a chance to enjoy their place in front of the race for a long time, at a bit over 5 kilometers from the finish the leading duo is also taken back.

In the last 3 kilometers, Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Damien Gaudin (AG2R La Mondiale) form the last breakaway duo but at the red flag indicating the last kilometer they are also taken back and everyone thus get ready for a bunch sprint. At 150 meters from the finish line, in the long straight line towards the finish in Cholet, a crash includes Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) among the sprinters.

In the end, Rudy Barbier relatively easily wins this Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016, ahead of Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie Bruxelles-Group Protect) and Yannis Yssaad (Armée de Terre).

The classifications of Cholet Pays de Loire 2016

The race classification

Here's the top 10 of Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016:

1/ Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Métropole Européenne de Lille) - 5h11'06"
2/ Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie Bruxelles-Group Protect)
3/ Yannis Yssaad (Armée de Terre)
4/ Nico Denz (AG2R La Mondiale)
5/ Marc Sarreau (FDJ)
6/ David Menut (HP-BTP Auber 93)
7/ Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise)
8/ Laurent Evrard (Team 3M)
9/ Armindo Fonséca (Fortuneo-Vital Concept)
10/ Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix Métropole Européenne de Lille)

The Coupe de France PMU 2016 classification after Cholet Pays de Loire

After this 3rd race on the calendar of one day races, the classification of the Coupe de France PMU 2016 changes again, with Baptiste Planckaert now taking the lead:

1/ Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie Bruxelles-Group Protect) - 60 points
2/ Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Métropole Européenne de Lille) - 50 points
3/ Anthony Turgis (Cofidis, solutions crédits) - 50 points
4/ Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling) - 50 points
5/ Loïc Chetout (Cofidis, solutions crédits) - 35 points
6/ Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) - 35 points
7/ Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) - 30 points
8/ Yannis Yssaad (Armée de Terre) - 25 points
9/ Kévin Ledanois (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) - 25 points
10/ Dimitri Claeys (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) - 25 points

The photos of Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016

You'll find a photo selection of the race in the dedicated album later on:

>> The photos of Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016

The video of the finish of Cholet-Pays de Loire 2016

In the video of the finish, published by the Ligue Nationale de Cyclisme, we can clearly see the crash at 150 meters from the finish line followed by Rudy Barbier's victory:

door Thomas Vergouwen
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this publication is published in: Cholet-Pays de Loire

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