Laurent Pichon: “for sprinters or punchers”
The Roue Tourangelle is an event which generally offers two possible scenarios for victory. Sprinters and punchers may equally be affected.
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“The Roue Tourangelle is very often reserved for sprinters, however with a finish which can be very disjointed, which can also lead to arrivals in small groups. There are repeated short bumps in the finale, which allows the punchers to try their luck, but also to skim within the peloton. It’s necessary to be vigilant. We will have good cards on Sunday with an excellent puncher in the person of Clément Venturini, but also Jenthe Biermans who is very fast if it is the more or less massive sprint scenario which were to conclude this round of the Coupe de France. We will have to be attentive in the final with runners such as Léandre Lozouet, Thibault Guernalec or myself, if movements were to form, and above all we support them in order to preserve all our chances for the final.
“I can’t wait to get started and discover the UCI World Tour structure of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team. This will be my very first with this training. This is a very first step achieved among the objectives that I have set. I am excited at the idea of running the Roue Tourangelle, and working as hard as possible to give the best of myself for the collective.”
“La Roue Tourangelle the weather should be mild, after the Roue Tourangelle can smile on the sprinters if their teams ensure that it happens together. But the punchers can also hope to break this pattern thanks to the bumps which are scattered at the end of the course, and which can encourage their desire to give movement to this round of the Coupe de France. It is a race that could suit runners such as Jenthe Biermans, if he has recovered well from his fall in Nokéré, and Clément Venturini. The team will be made up of executives with Anthony Delaplace and Thibault Guernalec, and riders from the development team: Hughes Harvey, Léandre Lozouët and Florian Dauphin. What is certain is that in this event, as always, we will give ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions.”