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Friday Night Race at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées

The Champs-Élysées, one of the most iconic roads in the world - not only for fans of cycling but to most people. But for fans of cycling, this place has a special ring to it. Tonight it wasn't Sam Bennet barely beating Mads Pedersen in a close sprint, but the numbers who turned up in tonight's crit very nearly matched the numbers participating in the August edition of the Tour de France. Nearly a hundred people at the start line, which is a guarantee of a fast-paced race, ending in a big bunch sprint. 

However, since RGT isn't le tour, a break can stick on the Champs-Élysées. The pace was fast from the beginning, and already at the first small rise, riders were falling off the pack. The drafting is hard to get right, and once you are out of it - it is difficult to get back in. Swedish Jerome Berube and Canadian Maxime Turcotte were both pushing hard at the front of the pack. Joseph Duluc, who for mysterious reasons was participating in the crit racing for beginners at Wednesday - and even more mysterious only ended up fourth - was also to be found in the peloton; together with very well known names such as Keith Aitchison, David Daly, Mathieu Drujon, Mike Lister, Timo Achenbach, Wout Hartveld, Guillaume Toffoli, Dlnr Joeri and many more. With such a strong field, the race was bound to be difficult to win. Since no teams were involved, the sprint would be chaotic, and besides huge watt numbers, a little bit of luck was needed to end out on top of the podium. 

As it is custom on the Champs-Élysées breakaways are attempted all the way to the finish line. And as is also custom, none of them last more than a couple of rounds - except for that Kasakh rider a couple of years ago. One side effect of the breakaway attempts is, that the tempo goes up. And especially Damien Vuilliers attack with a little under 12 km to go, broke up the front group. Drujon, Lister, and Vercic put down some majestic watts to catch him, Lister reaching 13 w/kg in the attempt, which most of us would consider a decent sprint finish. Vuillier, Drujon, and Lister ended up in a three man's group, but with a chasing field behind them and still, 11 km to go, none of the riders seemed very eager to use too much of their energy at this point. A decimated field of around 20 riders caught up with the three men at the front, and everyone seemed to agree, that the stage had to end the way every stage on the Champs has to end. 

Lister had the front, leading the pack past the flamme rouge. But the turn was short lived, and soon all riders were pressing to get to the front of the group, without using power by being at the front. At the last corner with 350 meters to go, Vercic pushed out with 10 w/kg, trying a very long sprint. The field, however, quickly caught up with him, and Vercic attempt ended up as a lead-out for the pack. With 150 meters to go the sprint was opened. Drujon timed it perfectly, taking the lead with 100 meters to go, and never looked back, taking his fourth win overall this season. 

Top 10 for the night

  1.    Mathieu Drujon          46:23.0  
  2.   Sébastien Voulders S.T  
  3.   Dlnr Joeri                  S.T  
  4.   Maxime Turcotte  S.T  
  5.   Jonathan Corgeron S.T  
  6.   Wout Hartveld          S.T  
  7.   Mitch Ide                  S.T  
  8.   Guillaume Toffoli  S.T  
  9.   Andy Macca                  S.T  
  10.   Damien Vuillier          S.T  

Watch Mike Listers stream from the race here



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Comments

  1. MaximeJanuary 23, 2021 at 12:29 AM

    Maxime Tourette could also be Maxime Turcotte, who knows ;)

    ReplyDelete

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