Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) timed his sprint perfectly to win the Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France 2025 in Plouay ahead of Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike).
After a dynamic day of racing, which saw multiple break attempts pepper the front, the 70-rider peloton raced downhill towards the finish line to an unexpected bunch sprint.
Kooij accelerated first with De Lie in his wheel, using the slipstream to come around for the victory while Jeannière came from further back and overtook Kooij just before the line.
A dangerous four-rider move which included Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty) and 2023 winner Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) made its way off the front with 12km to go. But the lack of cooperation and a determined chase by the peloton doomed the move, with the speeding pack reeling them in just 1.1 km from the finish.
“It’s always a difficult sprint here in Plouay, and the timing today was just perfect. I’m really happy to win here, it’s one of my favorite races on the calendar. So yeah, I’m just happy, and, thank you to my teammates for the work all the day,” De Lie said after his win.
How it unfolded
In its 94th edition, the 261.7km course delivered its usual challenging course with 4,750 metres of elevation gain centred around Plouay in Brittany.
The peloton finished its race on the Plouay circuit, done 1.5 times, with the Rostervel…
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