Sébastien Hinault: "a battle between sprinters and punchers"
The German race favours either sprinters or puncheurs. The line-up for Eschborn-Frankfurt meets both these criteria. The ARKEA-B&B HOTELS Développement team will also be present at the start of the U23 event.
World Team
‘This will be my very first participation in Eschborn-Frankfurt. This event will also mark my return to racing in preparation for the second half of the season. I’ve just come off a training camp with the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team in Spain, and we’ve done some good work. Now we’ll see how I am in the race. As far as this classic is concerned, from what I’ve been able to see by looking at the profile of this event, the first part of the race is harder than the second. It will be hilly, with long bumps and smaller but steep ones over the first 120 kilometres. The finish is flatter and a little downhill towards Frankfurt. There are several options for victory: a bunch sprint, a small group sprint or a bunch sprint with the puncheurs explaining themselves to each other. The three possible scenarios are interesting for us’.
Equipe Développement
‘As a sprinter, the first objective will be to get through the difficulties at the start of the race so as to be present in the final. I know that after that, I can use my speed in the last 200 metres. I feel I’m in good shape and my legs are good. I’m still in the learning phase of top-level cycling. I’m still learning the ropes, particularly in the heart of the peloton. This event is a new opportunity for me to do that.’
World Team
‘Eschborn-Frankfurt, formerly known as the Grand Prix de Francfort, is a great classic that is often a close match between sprinters and puncheurs. We’ll have a fine ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team at the start of this competition, which is always held on 1 May, with puncheurs and sprinters such as Vincenzo Albanese, Amaury Capiot, Simon Guglielmi, Mathis Le Berre and Matîs Louvel, who can either show off their speed or take part in a moving race, not forgetting Laurens Huys and Thibault Guernalec, who are coming off the Tour de Romandie, where they showed good form’.
Equipe Développement
‘The U23 route is different from the Elites route. We have 2 passes to climb in the middle. The summit of the last climb is closer to the finish than our UCI World Tour team. We have a team that can adapt to several types of scenario with excellent climbers like Jean-Loup Fayolle and Louis Rouland, some very good road riders, I’m thinking of Hubert Grygowski and Nicolas Milesi, and finally Hugh Harvey and Giosuè Epis our sprinters. It’s up to us to find the right tactics and come up with solutions to get a very good result’.