Michael Matthews powers to win at Bretagne Classic – Ouest
The Sunweb sprint specialist outrode Luka Mezgec and Florian Sénéchal by one second, with a strong kick to the line.
Michael Matthews notched another win, this time at the 84th edition of the Bretagne Classic.
The Sunweb sprint specialist outrode Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) and Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) by one second, with a strong kick to the line.
“It was super hard today, but my team did a great job all the day to keep me in position… and I sprinted to perfection,” said Matthews. “I knew I was very fit. And I won my second race after confinement. I am very happy,” added the Australian.
The three were part of a seven-rider group who had a slight gap on the field in the final 1,500 meters of a 248.7-kilometer day.
Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) who last weekend won the French national championship road race was away for most of the day, in a group of eight riders.
In rain-slicked roads, the escapees gained as much as seven minutes, while their numbers dwindled to six.
The French national champion attacked the break at 80km to go, while the small group of escapees gave chase.
But with 45km of racing left, the peloton had caught the escapees, and the attacks came furiously while the main field was reduced by half.
Quick-Step’s Sénéchal raised the pace in the closing kilometers of the final ascent, but with the superior numbers of Team Sunweb, this move was neutralized.
Matthews’ teammate Nils Eekhoff split the break and appeared to be in position to take the win, but eased to allow Matthews position in the final dash for the line.
American Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) who won the UCI junior world road championship in 2019 finished in sixth.
Matthews has been showing well since the racing restart a month ago, finishing in third at Milano-Sanremo.
The Australian will not start the Tour Saturday, but he is expected to line up at the Giro.
Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France Results
Stage | Rank | Name | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | MATTHEWS Michael | Team Sunweb | 6:01:14 |
2 | MEZGEC Luka | Mitchelton-Scott | 0:01 |
3 | SÉNÉCHAL Florian | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 0:01 |
4 | DE GENDT Aimé | Circus - Wanty Gobert | 0:01 |
5 | FEDELI Alessandro | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 0:01 |
6 | SIMMONS Quinn | Trek - Segafredo | 0:01 |
7 | EEKHOFF Nils | Team Sunweb | 0:03 |
8 | MCLAY Daniel | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:05 |
9 | ROUX Anthony | Groupama - FDJ | 0:05 |
10 | GARCÍA CORTINA Iván | Bahrain - McLaren | 0:05 |
11 | PHILIPSEN Jasper | UAE-Team Emirates | 0:05 |
12 | GROSU Eduard-Michael | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 0:05 |
13 | VERMEERSCH Gianni | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:05 |
14 | KIRSCH Alex | Trek - Segafredo | 0:05 |
15 | VENDRAME Andrea | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05 |
16 | BATTISTELLA Samuele | NTT Pro Cycling | 0:05 |
17 | MORIN Emmanuel | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:05 |
18 | PASQUALON Andrea | Circus - Wanty Gobert | 0:05 |
19 | HAAS Nathan | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:05 |
20 | SBARAGLI Kristian | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:05 |
21 | MOZZATO Luca | B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM | 0:05 |
22 | GUGLIELMI Simon | Groupama - FDJ | 0:05 |
23 | THWAITES Scott | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:05 |
24 | BONNAMOUR Franck | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:05 |
25 | BAKELANTS Jan | Circus - Wanty Gobert | 0:05 |
26 | GODON Dorian | AG2R La Mondiale | 0:05 |
27 | BIERMANS Jenthe | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:05 |
28 | VANMARCKE Sep | EF Pro Cycling | 0:05 |
29 | GUERREIRO Ruben | EF Pro Cycling | 0:05 |
30 | ARASHIRO Yukiya | Bahrain - McLaren | 0:05 |
31 | LIENHARD Fabian | Groupama - FDJ | 0:05 |
32 | LIGTHART Pim | Team Total Direct Energie | 0:05 |
33 | ARMÉE Sander | Lotto Soudal | 0:05 |
34 | CLAEYS Dimitri | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:05 |
35 | SMITH Dion | Mitchelton-Scott | 0:05 |
36 | DELAPLACE Anthony | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:05 |
37 | GAILLARD Marlon | Team Total Direct Energie | 0:05 |
38 | FERNÁNDEZ Delio | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 0:05 |
39 | PICHON Laurent | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:05 |
40 | DEWULF Stan | Lotto Soudal | 0:05 |
41 | HENAO Sergio | UAE-Team Emirates | 0:05 |
42 | LE GAC Olivier | Groupama - FDJ | 0:05 |
43 | VERMOTE Julien | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 0:05 |
44 | ARANBURU Alex | Astana Pro Team | 0:05 |
45 | BOIVIN Guillaume | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:27 |
46 | DE BONDT Dries | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:27 |
47 | SEIGLE Romain | Groupama - FDJ | 0:43 |
48 | STEIMLE Jannik | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 0:57 |
49 | GRMAY Tsgabu | Mitchelton-Scott | 0:57 |
50 | BJERG Mikkel | UAE-Team Emirates | 1:14 |
51 | JANSE VAN RENSBURG Reinardt | NTT Pro Cycling | 1:14 |
52 | GENIETS Kevin | Groupama - FDJ | 1:20 |
53 | LAFAY Victor | Cofidis, Solutions Crédits | 2:27 |
54 | SCHULTZ Nick | Mitchelton-Scott | 3:21 |
55 | NAKANE Hideto | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 3:48 |
56 | ALBASINI Michael | Mitchelton-Scott | 4:01 |
57 | VANHOUCKE Harm | Lotto Soudal | 4:18 |
58 | DE TIER Floris | Alpecin-Fenix | 4:38 |
59 | ZABEL Rick | Israel Start-Up Nation | 4:38 |
60 | DIBBEN Jonathan | Lotto Soudal | 4:38 |
61 | DE VREESE Laurens | Astana Pro Team | 4:38 |
62 | VAN HOECKE Gijs | CCC Team | 4:38 |
63 | TILLER Rasmus | NTT Pro Cycling | 4:38 |
64 | DUVAL Julien | AG2R La Mondiale | 4:38 |
65 | VAN LERBERGHE Bert | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 4:38 |
66 | BOLE Grega | Bahrain - McLaren | 4:38 |
67 | MARTINELLI Davide | Astana Pro Team | 4:38 |
68 | KAMP Alexander | Trek - Segafredo | 4:38 |
69 | DE BOD Stefan | NTT Pro Cycling | 4:38 |
70 | HOLLENSTEIN Reto | Israel Start-Up Nation | 4:38 |
71 | JACOBS Johan | Movistar Team | 4:38 |
72 | MAS Lluís | Movistar Team | 4:38 |
73 | VAN GOETHEM Brian | Lotto Soudal | 4:38 |
74 | NAESEN Lawrence | AG2R La Mondiale | 4:38 |
75 | TORRES Albert | Movistar Team | 4:38 |
76 | PIBERNIK Luka | Bahrain - McLaren | 4:40 |
77 | CAVAGNA Rémi | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 6:40 |
78 | KEISSE Iljo | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 6:40 |
79 | VAN DER SANDE Tosh | Lotto Soudal | 6:40 |
80 | MCCABE Travis | Israel Start-Up Nation | 7:11 |
81 | STANNARD Robert | Mitchelton-Scott | 9:41 |
82 | VERGAERDE Otto | Alpecin-Fenix | 10:10 |
83 | DOCKER Mitchell | EF Pro Cycling | 10:10 |
84 | STEELS Stijn | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 10:10 |
85 | LE ROUX Romain | Team Arkéa Samsic | 10:10 |
86 | ŠIŠKEVIČIUS Evaldas | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 13:39 |
87 | CLARKE Will | Trek - Segafredo | 14:06 |
88 | QUARTERMAN Charlie | Trek - Segafredo | 14:06 |
89 | DENZ Nico | Team Sunweb | 14:06 |
90 | SLAGTER Tom-Jelte | B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM | 14:06 |
91 | BACKAERT Frederik | B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM | 14:06 |
92 | BOHÓRQUEZ Hernando | Astana Pro Team | 14:06 |
93 | FOMINYKH Daniil | Astana Pro Team | 14:06 |
94 | ROSSKOPF Joey | CCC Team | 14:06 |
95 | MERTZ Rémy | Lotto Soudal | 14:06 |
96 | GHIRMAY HAILU Biniam | NIPPO DELKO One Provence | 14:06 |
97 | CATAFORD Alexander | Israel Start-Up Nation | 14:06 |
98 | MORA Sebastián | Movistar Team | 14:06 |
99 | INKELAAR Kevin | Bahrain - McLaren | 14:06 |
100 | ELOSEGUI Iñigo | Movistar Team | 14:06 |
101 | CULLAIGH Gabriel | Movistar Team | 14:06 |
102 | GIDICH Yevgeniy | Astana Pro Team | 14:06 |
103 | BENNETT Sean | EF Pro Cycling | 14:06 |
104 | SCOTSON Callum | Mitchelton-Scott | 14:06 |
105 | COURTEILLE Arnaud | B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM | 14:06 |
Results provided by ProCyclingStats.