Kristoff grabs gold at Grand Prix Ouest France Plouay
Alexander Kristoff takes "a beautiful victory” at the Grand Prix Ouest France Plouay
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PLOUAY, France — Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) sprinted to victory on Sunday in the Grand Prix Ouest France Plouay.
A five-man break came to naught short of the finish to the 229.1km WorldTour race, and in a sprint of some 50 riders Kristoff outkicked Simone Ponzi (Southeast) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Cannondale-Garmin) for the win.
“Everything went how we planned it,” said Kristoff after scoring his 20th win of the season. “It really is a beautiful victory.”
The initial break — Alexandre Pichot (Europcar), Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement), Quentin Jauregui (AG2R La Mondiale), Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek Factory Racing) and Frederik Backaert (Wanty Group Gobert) — went early and took more than 11 minutes over the field before being retrieved.
Then another escape, which included Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) and Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team), made its move, and that break stayed gone until the final ascent of the Côte de Ty Marrec, with 4km to go.
Last to attack were Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Matti Breschel (Tinkoff-Saxo), to no avail, and Katusha delivered Kristoff to the victory.
