With the French Cycling Championships Thursday June 20 and Friday June 21, and a new French Cup round Sunday June 23, the big weekend of Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais (VCVB) promised to be important in stopping the negative spiral which has hit the club for several weeks.
Unfortunately, the results did not live up to expectations. On Thursday, hostilities began with the time trial. On a difficult route around the Mont Saint Michelthe two Caladois in the running, Thomas Muller et Tom Lambert-Wetzelfinished in anecdotal places (22e et 23e).
The next day, it’s time for the road race, with a clear objective: to perform well to restore confidence in the team. Under intense heat, Tao Queméré was the first Caladois to cross the finish line, achieving an honorable 8e place. Antoine Raugel failed at the gates of the top 10 by ranking 11ewhile Maxime Richard (17e) et Victor Jean (19e) completed the quartet.
A difficult Coupe de France round
The big part of the weekend was undoubtedly the French Cup round which took place on Sunday in Normandy, a competition that the VCVB had ambitions of winning at the start of the season. An objective that was still valid at the dawn of this fifth round since the Caladoise team was hot on the heels of VC Rouen in the ranking.
But on the ground of its main opponent, the VCVB failed to climb into the top 10 in the final sprint. Mathias Sanlaville finished 12e et Victor Jean 21ewhich nevertheless allows the sports director’s team Sébastien Hoareau to keep his 2e place in the general classification (227 points), behind the leader VC Rouen (279 points), before the final stage on September 22 in Yonne, on the Classic Puisaye-Forterre. Finally, we will note the falls of Maxime Richard and Antoine Raugel.
