The Coupe de France weekend in Pierric, in Loire-Atlantique, ended with a very close final duel in the premier category. Until the end, David Menut and Rémi Lelandais pulled out all the stops and it was finally the first city who won against the runner from Arkéa-B&B Hôtels Conti (see ranking). “It was a great duel, it's always fun to fight like that, especially with “Dadou”. We get along well. We were colleagues together at the European Championship”he recalls for DirectVelowhile the two men were indeed representing the French team in Spain. “It was an exciting race, for us and for the spectators. It's a shame that Timothé (Gabriel) had mechanical problems, otherwise it would have been a three-way affair. He looked strong, continues the 22-year-old athlete. But it’s a race”.
In the finale, Rémi Lelandais admits that he did not imagine going off alone, for the simple reason that he did not feel capable of it. So he tried to put a tactic in place. “We battled and I tried to play my card in the sprint. I didn't necessarily feel able to let go of the pedal today. I hesitated a little but that wasn't my tactic. I preferred to wait until he made a mistake or mentally broke down because on this circuit, it was hard to take the lead and hold on. I preferred to use him for the finale”. But the mistake never came and David Menut ended up getting the better of Rémi Lelandais. “Sometimes I purposely gave him a little head start to speed him up again and let him try harder. It wasn’t a winner but it was a good race”.
5th Saturday – “I was unable to return after a mechanical problem” – and therefore 2nd this Sunday, Rémi Lelandais has a good assessment of his Loire weekend. Enough to give him confidence after three weeks of being ill. “I used this weekend as training to get back on track”. This is done.
France
Cycling
