Powering clear from a five man group inside the final kilometre, Slovenian national champion Grega Bole grabbed the biggest win of his career when he took the WorldTour GP Ouest France in Plouay this afternoon. The Lampre-ISD rider timed his effort to perfection, holding off 2007 race winner Simon Gerrans (Sky Procycling) and the 2009 champion Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). World champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) took fourth, with 67 others also part of the big sprint to the line.
Pre-race favourite Philippe Gilbert rode aggressively in the finale, knowing that a high placing would see him take over as WorldTour leader, but he seemed to lack some of the spark he has had all year. He was marked closely and also seemed tired, verifying recent remarks that he was feeling the fatigue of being at a high level. He missed the decisive five man move which Bole used as a platform for success, and instead finished back in 57th place.
Instead, Voeckler was the principal animator inside the final 20 kilometres, but he too was also marked heavily. He also missed the five man break but jumped across to it after Bole had flown the coop, came by and set about trying to reel the Slovenian in. He ran out of distance, though, and eased up when he realised that he wouldn’t win. That proved costly, with Gerrans nipping past to take the runner-up slot.
Bole was elated with how things turned out. “This is the best victory in my career, because it's my first success in a Classic and because I did it at the end of a very good performance,” he enthused. “After the Tour de France, I achieved important performances and I was always in the top standings in races. Finally today I won.
“I thank my team mates, who were perfect throughout the whole race, and Lampre-ISD which always supports me.”
His directeur sportif Valerio Tebaldi said that the team decided to put everything behind him when the break was clear. “We knew Grega was in good condition and that is why we decided to work hard at the head of the group in order to chase the attackers,” he said. “It could have been risky but thanks to the outstanding attack in the final kilometres, Bole made all that work very useful.”
One place behind Hushovd was Giacomo Nizzolo, who showed his potential with a strong fifth place at 22 years of age. “I’m really happy with Nizzolo today,” said directeur sportif Adriano Baffi about the result. “For Giacomo, a first year professional, to complete such a long, difficult race and emerge as a top finisher is a good sign for his future.”
Wearing down process on 2000 world championship course:
Taking place over 13 laps of a 19.1 kilometre circuit, the WorldTour race is always an attacking race where tactics are important. Those circuits include several tough climbs, including that of Ty-Marrec. This is often exploited for surges in the finale, and would serve the same purpose today.
The day’s early break comprised Sebastien Duret (Bretagne Schuller), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Guillaume Levarlet (Saur-Sojasun), Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo), Michal Kwiatkowski (Radioshack), Mauro Finetto (Liquigas), Mikael Cherel (AG2R La Mondiale) and Marcello Pavarin (Vacansoleil). They opened a maximum lead of 11 minutes and still had a good gap heading into the final hour of racing.
Behind, Movistar, Lampre-ISD and Sky Procycling did some calculations, worked out the danger and ramped up the pace to try to bring the move back. The riders the break knew they had to raise their own game and turned the screw, with Kwiatkowski and Finetto pushing on ahead alone.
With 32 kilometres to go, the gap was down to just over two minutes. Anthony Roux (FDJ) attacked and while he was soon caught, he wasn’t dissuaded and tried again with Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). Brice Feillu (Vacansoleil) and Blel Kadri (Ag2r La Mondiale) were also aggressive, but everything was brought back by a hard-chasing bunch.
With twenty kilometres to go, a crash in the bunch took several riders down, including Greg Henderson (Sky Procycling) and Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil). The former continued on to finish 77th, while the latter pulled out. Soon after, the Cofidis team moved to the front and started driving the pace, helping to bring the lead down to one minute 22 seconds.
Very soon afterwards, with seventeen kilometres remaining, Voeckler once again clipped away. He was again hauled back, but the injection of pace absorbed a tiring Bobridge. Several other short-lived moves also went clear, including one containing Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD).
Heading into the final 15 kilometres, Finetto and Kwiatkowski were just 52 seconds ahead. Soon afterwards the latter attacked, deciding that he would have a better chance alone, and settled into time trial mode with his arms extended in front of him on apparently UCI-legal invisible spinachi bars. The attacks continued to be fired off behind, with Voeckler and then his Europcar team-mate Vincent Jerome trying unsuccessfully to stay clear.
Final tussles precede solo bid for glory:
With eight kilometres to go, the gap was down to 29 seconds. The bunch was lined out and chasing hard, with Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma Lotto) sitting approximately 20 riders back. Matt Wilson (Garmin-Cervélo) was driving the pace at the front.
Amael Moniard kicked hard 4.3 kilometres from the line but the Garmin riders covered him. Next to go was former winner Simon Gerrans (Sky Procycling), who seized his chance. Behind, Gilbert attacked and dragged the bunch along and up to Gerrans, but wasn’t quite able to snap the elastic.
He was as aggressive as ever but after a long, successful season, the Belgian was starting to look fatigued. It was also known that he’d take over the world number one ranking with a high finish, and so he was consequently marked closely.
Very soon afterwards Grega Bole (Lampre-ISD) clipped away with four other riders; also present were Gerrans, Jérémie Galland (Saur-Sojasun), Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) and Joaquin Rojas (Movistar).
Amid all the aggression, Kwiatkowski was caught by the new leaders and slipped back to the peloton. Inside the final kilometre, Bole jumped clear of the lead group and opened several bike lengths. Those chasing behind were caught and passed by Voeckler prior to being absorbed by the peloton; the Frenchman drove hard to try to haul back the leader and repeat his 2007 win, but was still several bike lengths behind heading into the final 50 metres.
He visibly eased, enabling Gerrans to slip past for second, but holding onto third ahead of world champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo)
“Second, third, there’s not a big difference,” he said afterwards. His team might not necessarily agree with that sentiment, but it was clear that the win is what he wanted.