The eyes of much of the cycling world may be focussed on Flanders this weekend as cobbled Classics season kicks off with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Belgian Opening Weekend. Further south, though, there’s a similar weekend of racing going on, too – something of an ‘Alternative Opening Weekend’.
A host of big names are heading to Valence in South East France on Saturday and Sunday for a pair of smaller hilly Classics, the Faun-Ardèche Classic and the Faun Drôme Classic.
Along for the ride, too, are a host of home favourites, including rising stars Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Romain Grégoire (Groupama FDJ-United), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), as well as Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana).
Last year’s races saw Grégoire and Juan Ayuso come out on top. This year’s routes retain similar parcours, with Saturday’s Faun-Ardèche Classic featuring 3,400 metres of elevation and 11 major climbs spread across its 187.6km route, and Sunday’s 189km Faun Drôme Classic coming with 2,200 metres spread across 17 hills and an uphill finish.
“Starting with our leader, Lenny – for some it might have seemed hard that he didn’t win last weekend, but for us it was actually perfect. He tested himself and raced without overthinking, which was exactly the plan.
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