GP Ouest-France podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Course map

Formerly named "GP Ouest-France Plouay".

Plouay - Plouay, 256.9 km. A circuit of 242.2 kilometers plus a lap of 14.7 km = 253.9 km (final distance corrected)

Oliver Naesen wins in Plouay

The race: Here's the report from third-place Tim Wellens' Lotto-Soudal team.

Tim Wellens finished third in Plouay today after a wet edition of the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France. The Lotto Soudal rider arrived at the finish together with Oliver Naesen and Michael Valgren Andersen. It was Naesen who sprinted to victory.

After Quick-Step had considerably reduced the lead of seven early escapees it was Tim Wellens who opened up the finale with seventy kilometres to go. Together with among other Zdenek Stybar, he bridged to the leaders and a front group of fourteen riders was established. With about twenty kilometres to go, the decisive selection was made at the front. Wellens got ahead with Oliver Naesen and Michael Valgren Andersen. These three riders entered the local lap of 14.7 kilometres together. Their advantage over their nearest chasers grew and became sufficient to remain ahead and battle for the win. None of them managed to leave the others behind, not even on Côte de Ty-Marrec, and a sprint would decide about the victory. Naesen beat Valgren Andersen and Wellens finished third.

Tim Wellens: “The third place was the highest possible result for me today. I helped to start up the finale and I have to admit that soon after that, I had not much left in the tank. I jumped away from the bunch on a short off-road section. We cooperated well and managed to take enough lead over the bunch. On the penultimate climb of the day, we got ahead with three. Then I realized that I wasn’t at my best anymore and that the third place would be the best I could achieve today.”

“Apparently I had been too eager along the way, but because it had started to rain and we had to ride over small roads with lots of turns, I decided to force a selection early. Eventually we got ahead with the three best riders of the race. I helped to create sufficient lead over the chasing group, but then I let Oliver Naesen and Michael Valgren know that I was okay with becoming third. I can live with this third place, although you always start to win of course. But I know my condition is good and I am looking forward to my next goals: the Canadian races and the World Championships.”

Complete results:

253.9 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.455 km/hr

171 starters, 96 abandons, 75 classified finishers

1	NAESEN Oliver	Ag2r La Mondiale	6hr 16min 34sec
2	VALGREN Michael	Astana	s.t.
3	WELLENS Tim	Lotto-Soudal	@ 3sec
4	MATTHEWS Michael	Team Sunweb	1:13
5	GUERREIRO Ruben	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
6	ŠTYBAR Zdeněk	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
7	LE GAC Olivier	Groupama-FDJ	1:15
8	MADOUAS Valentin	Groupama-FDJ	1:17
9	COSNEFROY Benoît	Ag2r La Mondiale	1:18
10	JAKOBSEN Fabio	Quick-Step Floors	1:24
11	KRISTOFF Alexander	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
12	JANSEN Amund Grøndahl	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
13	DEGENKOLB John	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
14	HOULE Hugo	Astana	s.t.
15	SMITH Dion	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
16	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina - Selle Italia	s.t.
17	LAPORTE Christophe	Cofidis	s.t.
18	HARDY Romain	Fortuneo-Samsic	s.t.
19	ROUX Anthony	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
20	COLBRELLI Sonny	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
21	ROJAS José Joaquín	Movistar	s.t.
22	SIMON Julien	Cofidis	s.t.
23	WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads	Katusha-Alpecin	s.t.
24	CALMEJANE Lilian	Direct Energie	s.t.
25	RICHEZE Maximiliano	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
26	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
27	OFFREDO Yoann	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
28	DE KORT Koen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
29	BASSO Leonardo	Sky	s.t.
30	COSTA Rui	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
31	PACHER Quentin	Vital Concept	s.t.
32	IMPEY Daryl	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
33	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina - Selle Italia	s.t.
34	FERNANDEZ Delio	Delko-Marseille Provence	s.t.
35	TOLHOEK Antwan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
36	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald	Dimension Data	s.t.
37	SCHÄR Michael	BMC	s.t.
38	ULISSI Diego	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
39	VANMARCKE Sep	EF Education First-Drapac	s.t.
40	MANZIN Lorrenzo	Vital Concept	s.t.
41	KANGERT Tanel	Astana	s.t.
42	DOWSETT Alex	Katusha-Alpecin	s.t.
43	GRIVKO Andrey	Astana	s.t.
44	OSS Daniel	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
45	VERONA Carlos	Mitchelton-Scott	s.t.
46	GASPAROTTO Enrico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
47	GERRANS Simon	BMC	s.t.
48	TULIK Angelo	Direct Energie	s.t.
49	CHERNETSKI Sergei	Astana	s.t.
50	GAUDU David	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
51	VICHOT Arthur	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
52	WYSS Danilo	BMC	s.t.
53	MEURISSE Xandro	Wanty-Groupe Gobert	s.t.
54	DE BUYST Jasper	Lotto-Soudal	s.t.
55	DECLERCQ Tim	Quick-Step Floors	s.t.
56	DILLIER Silvan	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
57	TURGIS Jimmy	Cofidis	1:32
58	GOGL Michael	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
59	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:11
60	POLJAŃSKI Paweł	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
61	KOZHATAYEV Bakhtiyar	Astana	s.t.
62	VALLS Rafael	Movistar	2:55
63	SICARD Romain	Direct Energie	3:42
64	BAK Lars Ytting	Lotto-Soudal	3:54
65	BOLE Grega	Bahrain-Merida	3:56
66	OOMEN Sam	Team Sunweb	4:27
67	MÜLLER Patrick	Vital Concept	6:30
68	BOUET Maxime	Fortuneo-Samsic	6:31
69	ARNDT Nikias	Team Sunweb	s.t.
70	LE BON Johan	Vital Concept	6:32
71	BOUDAT Thomas	Direct Energie	s.t.
72	FILOSI Iuri	Delko-Marseille Provence	6:33
73	COURTEILLE Arnaud	Vital Concept	s.t.
74	GAUTIER Cyril	Ag2r La Mondiale	6:35
75	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	7:51

Course map: