Cre’Actuel-Marie Morin-U 22 concluded the 2024 edition of the Coupe de France N1 on a good note. Last Sunday, in the sixth and final round of the competition, the Classique Puisaye-Forterre-Souvenir Philippe Gerbault, the team from Côtes-d’Armor sought a podium through Tom Mainguenaud (see ranking), allowing him to obtain 6th place in the general classification of the Coupe de France N1 (see ranking). “We are in our place, we started well at the Tour des 4B. We had some very mixed rounds in April, and we finished well with Tom in 3rd place and three riders in the points. We are 5th at the DirectVelo Challenge, and 6th in the Coupe de France, it’s logical”says Sébastien Cottier, sports director of the Breton team.
The rain, which accompanied the riders throughout the race, made the last round difficult. “With the rain, it’s about mentality and positioning”The day had started under the sign of patience for the Bretons with a precise strategy directed towards the final circuit. “We never panicked, even when the breakaway took a three-minute lead, but it’s a bike race, there’s no exact science.”This profitable strategy allowed Tom Mainguenaud, despite “bad feelings”to take the right move and head towards the final sprint in three in the company of Clément Izquierdo and Clément Le Boetez. He finally takes 3rd place after trying to anticipate 500 meters from the line. “We are on the podium, we hoped to win. We didn’t miss much, but we are satisfied with this podium”explains Sébastien Cottier.
“THE RUNNERS HAVE PERFECTLY REMOBILIZED”
The Cre’Actuel-Marie Morin-U 22 team had therefore started the Coupe de France well with an 8th place for Alexis Pierre in the first round, the Tour des 4B Sud Charente. Before experiencing a difficult period in the following three rounds – La Gainsbarre, the Trophée Souvenir Roger Walkowiak and the Chrono 47 – where they only took 18 points in total from the three races. “The disappointment was mainly La Gainsbarre where we completely failed. On the Chrono 47, we had some sick riders and some riders switched from the Chrono 47 to the Tour de Bretagne so we knew we were going to lose points… And that was confirmed.”
Indeed, the Côtes-d’Armor formation has righted the ship with first of all a perfectly successful Caux Tour with the Top 5 for Ludovic Morice and Alexis Pierre (see ranking) and this despite difficult preparation for the team. “We were in a difficult period at the French Championship with the Caux Tour two days later, because we had a gastro epidemic in the team. We had a very bad Championship and we said to ourselves that it was going to be very difficult at the Caux Tour, but the riders remobilized perfectly.”. Before ending this edition with this podium on the Puisaye-Forterre Classic. A French Cup where the Bretons demonstrated a perseverance that delighted Sébastien Cottier. “The first satisfaction is that they never gave up.”.
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