Published August 29, 2021 09:27AM
Bretagne Classic-Ouest France: Benoît Cosnefroy outsprints Julian Alaphilippe for career-topping win
Cosnefroy kicks past Alaphilippe after being outnumbered by Deceuninck-Quick-Step riders in escape group.
Benoit Cosnefroy, shown here winning the 85th Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France 2021, could be heading to the worlds. (Photo: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2r-Citroën) kicked past Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) to win the Bretagne Classic-Ouest France on Sunday.
Cosnefroy had attacked out of the bunch with Alaphilippe and his Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammate Mikkel Honoré at 65km. The 25-year-old held strong under the pressure as the Quick-Step duo worked their numerical advantage through the final before outsprinting Alaphilippe for the biggest victory of his career to date.
Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty) and Alessandro de Marchi (Israel-Start-Up Nation) were early attackers in the WorldTour classic. The duo dropped breakaway partners Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-Citroën) and Sébastien Grignard (Lotto Soudal) around midway trough the 251km trek through northern France and held a two-minute gap over the bunch, which was patrolled by Deceuninck-Quick-Step.
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The trio’s chances were boosted when a flurry of attacks and counters in the bunch saw the chase begin to stutter and Deceuninck-Quick-Step marked out the threats.
Alaphilippe piled the pressure onto Cosnefroy in the final 15km as his young Quick-Step teammate Honoré appeared to be fading. Despite being outnumbered, the 25-year-old Cosnefroy held his nerve and went into the final 3km locked into the Quick-Step duo as they nursed a slim gap over the peloton.
Honoré lead out the sprint for his world champion teammate and Alaphilippe and Consefroy both peeled off the wheel together. The pair went elbow to elbow in a long dragging sprint, but Alaphilippe sat up early in the grinding uphill kick as Consnefroy edged clear to score his first WorldTour win.
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Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France Results
| Rank | Name | Team | Time |
| 1 | COSNEFROY Benoît | AG2R Citroën Team | 5:59:56.000 |
| 2 | ALAPHILIPPE Julian | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:00.000 |
| 3 | HONORÉ Mikkel Frølich | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:03.000 |
| 4 | HAYTER Ethan | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:13.000 |
| 5 | SWIFT Connor | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:13.000 |
| 6 | BONNAMOUR Franck | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 0:13.000 |
| 7 | STUYVEN Jasper | Trek – Segafredo | 0:13.000 |
| 8 | MADOUAS Valentin | Groupama – FDJ | 0:13.000 |
| 9 | PACHER Quentin | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 0:16.000 |
| 10 | NIZZOLO Giacomo | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 0:17.000 |
| 11 | HOFSTETTER Hugo | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:17.000 |
| 12 | BALLERINI Davide | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:17.000 |
| 13 | ALEOTTI Giovanni | BORA – hansgrohe | 0:17.000 |
| 14 | PARET-PEINTRE Aurélien | AG2R Citroën Team | 0:17.000 |
| 15 | SIMON Julien | TotalEnergies | 0:17.000 |
| 16 | GODON Dorian | AG2R Citroën Team | 0:17.000 |
| 17 | PICHON Laurent | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:17.000 |
| 18 | SERRANO Gonzalo | Movistar Team | 0:17.000 |
| 19 | HERMANS Ben | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:17.000 |
| 20 | BARGUIL Warren | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:17.000 |
| 21 | CHEVALIER Maxime | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 0:17.000 |
| 22 | VALGREN Michael | EF Education – Nippo | 0:17.000 |
| 23 | WILLIAMS Stephen | Bahrain – Victorious | 0:17.000 |
| 24 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | 0:17.000 |
| 25 | KANGERT Tanel | Team BikeExchange | 0:17.000 |
| 26 | HINDLEY Jai | Team DSM | 0:17.000 |
| 27 | CATTANEO Mattia | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 0:17.000 |
| 28 | FERASSE Thibault | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 0:17.000 |
| 29 | BARBERO Carlos | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 0:22.000 |
| 30 | VENDRAME Andrea | AG2R Citroën Team | 0:53.000 |
| 31 | BOASSON HAGEN Edvald | TotalEnergies | 0:53.000 |
| 32 | TRARIEUX Julien | DELKO | 0:53.000 |
| 33 | GOLDSTEIN Omer | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:53.000 |
| 34 | ULISSI Diego | UAE Team Emirates | 0:53.000 |
| 35 | PÉRICHON Pierre-Luc | Cofidis | 0:53.000 |
| 36 | KONRAD Patrick | BORA – hansgrohe | 0:53.000 |
| 37 | HARDY Romain | Team Arkéa Samsic | 0:53.000 |
| 38 | GREGAARD Jonas | Astana – Premier Tech | 0:53.000 |
| 39 | GONZÁLEZ Abner | Movistar Team | 0:53.000 |
| 40 | MARTIN Dan | Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:53.000 |
| 41 | SKJELMOSE Mattias | Trek – Segafredo | 0:53.000 |
| 42 | DONOVAN Mark | Team DSM | 0:53.000 |
| 43 | WARBASSE Larry | AG2R Citroën Team | 0:53.000 |
| 44 | HIGUITA Sergio | EF Education – Nippo | 0:53.000 |
| 45 | LÓPEZ-CÓZAR Juan Antonio | Burgos – BH | 1:09.000 |
| 46 | GESBERT Élie | Team Arkéa Samsic | 1:47.000 |
| 47 | EENKHOORN Pascal | Team Jumbo-Visma | 2:03.000 |
| 48 | GAUDU David | Groupama – FDJ | 2:25.000 |
| 49 | ROWE Luke | INEOS Grenadiers | 2:25.000 |
| 50 | DÍAZ José Manuel | DELKO | 2:58.000 |
| 51 | TURGIS Anthony | TotalEnergies | 3:39.000 |
| 52 | RUBIO Einer | Movistar Team | 3:39.000 |
| 53 | GESCHKE Simon | Cofidis | 3:45.000 |
| 54 | BARTHE Cyril | B&B Hotels p/b KTM | 3:45.000 |
| 55 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | Israel Start-Up Nation | 4:27.000 |
| 56 | CLARKE Simon | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 4:39.000 |
| 57 | DECLERCQ Tim | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 4:53.000 |
| 58 | PLANCKAERT Baptiste | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 4:53.000 |
| 59 | GOOSSENS Kobe | Lotto Soudal | 4:53.000 |
| 60 | FEDELI Alessandro | DELKO | 4:53.000 |
| 61 | VINGEGAARD Jonas | Team Jumbo-Visma | 4:53.000 |
| 62 | SERRY Pieter | Deceuninck – Quick Step | 6:30.000 |
| 63 | PEÑALVER Manuel | Burgos – BH | 6:30.000 |
| 64 | FUENTES Ángel | Burgos – BH | 6:30.000 |
| 65 | GRMAY Tsgabu | Team BikeExchange | 6:30.000 |
| 66 | BENNETT Sean | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 6:30.000 |
| 67 | KUDUS Merhawi | Astana – Premier Tech | 6:30.000 |
| 68 | SEIGLE Romain | Groupama – FDJ | 6:30.000 |
| 69 | BELLICAUD Jeremy | Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux | 6:30.000 |
| 70 | DELETTRE Alexandre | DELKO | 6:30.000 |
| 71 | BOOKWALTER Brent | Team BikeExchange | 6:30.000 |
| 72 | SCHMID Mauro | Team Qhubeka NextHash | 6:30.000 |
| 73 | GUGLIELMI Simon | Groupama – FDJ | 6:30.000 |
| 74 | DEKKER David | Team Jumbo-Visma | 6:30.000 |
| 75 | BERNARD Julien | Trek – Segafredo | 6:30.000 |
| 76 | EEKHOFF Nils | Team DSM | 6:30.000 |
| 77 | LEDANOIS Kévin | Team Arkéa Samsic | 6:30.000 |
| 78 | LEKNESSUND Andreas | Team DSM | 6:30.000 |
| 79 | FERNÁNDEZ Delio | DELKO | 10:43.000 |
| 80 | DOULL Owain | INEOS Grenadiers | 10:43.000 |
| 81 | SWIFT Ben | INEOS Grenadiers | 10:43.000 |
| 82 | AYUSO Juan | UAE Team Emirates | 10:43.000 |
| 83 | COMBAUD Romain | Team DSM | 10:43.000 |
| 84 | CULLAIGH Gabriel | Movistar Team | 10:43.000 |
| 85 | CHAMPION Thomas | Cofidis | 10:43.000 |
| 86 | AMADOR Andrey | INEOS Grenadiers | 10:43.000 |
| 87 | COLLEONI Kevin | Team BikeExchange | 10:43.000 |
| 88 | SAMITIER Sergio | Movistar Team | 13:04.000 |
| 89 | LEEMREIZE Gijs | Team Jumbo-Visma | 13:04.000 |
| 90 | MARCZYŃSKI Tomasz | Lotto Soudal | 13:04.000 |
| 91 | CONCA Filippo | Lotto Soudal | 13:04.000 |
| 92 | CANTÓN Isaac | Burgos – BH | 13:04.000 |
| 93 | TERPSTRA Niki | TotalEnergies | 13:04.000 |
| 94 | EG Niklas | Trek – Segafredo | 13:04.000 |
| 95 | APARICIO Mario | Burgos – BH | 13:04.000 |
| 96 | GALL Felix | Team DSM | 13:04.000 |
| 97 | PERRY Benjamin | Astana – Premier Tech | 13:04.000 |
Results provided by ProCyclingStats.