First professional victory for Ewen!
Breton Ewen Costiou achieved his very first professional success by winning the 2nd stage of the Pays de la Loire Tour region alone.
Photos: Getty
“I’ve been circling so much for a while! I’m really super happy. It’s my first success among the professionals, with the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team. I told Mathis Le Berre to get a head start when It wasn’t rolling anymore. My teammates did a great job to place me at the foot of the bump. At the start of this one I wasn’t the strongest, there was a group that broke away, and I didn’t I wasn’t. I came into the summit with a headwind. On the last lap, Clément Venturini came into our group. He was really strong. I knew that the only way for me to win was to anticipate the sprint given the sprinters who were with us. I attacked at one kilometer two hundred, and I didn’t ask myself any questions. Winning this first professional race is really a relief.”
“I asked Ewen Costiou and Clément Venturini to be patient as much as possible, not to discover each other before the last two laps, and that the best, at a given moment, were going to look at each other, and that it was at that moment- where it was necessary to attack. Which Ewen was able to do perfectly. He has the jersey after this second stage, but EF Education and Marijn Van Den Berg are very strong. Le Gazonfier, Friday for the last stage at Le Mans, will be the judge peace of this Pays de la Loire Tour Region. For the general classification, we will see day by day, without neglecting any opponent, and we will take stock each evening.”