Laurent Pichon
Sport director
3rd again! We came to win. David had a real chance. He certainly gets around Luca, but a fall also disorganizes the peloton in the final. This one was also a bit tricky, it slipped a lot! What I remember is the state of mind. The runners from the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team delivered a real warrior's race, in this type of event that runners don't really like. 5 degrees, rain all day! The riders of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS formation were frozen. I pushed them throughout the race, giving them positive thoughts, and focusing on winning to give them strength. We took our responsibilities before the last paved sector we hardened, and it skimmed, and it came back. We lost Mathis in a fall, and he took a good crutch. More fear than harm, therefore. Alan, who did a good job, punctured just before the sector, without that we would have six riders out of the thirty-five who were up for victory. We hoped for it. We don't go that far once again, we show that we are there. The dynamic is established, and this will smile on us in the races to come in Belgium. I would like to salute the great work of everyone, including that of Pierre Thierry and Florian Dauphin, once again.
