2nd win for Emmanuel Houcou, 3rd in 3 stages for the Development team

Race reportFeb 23, 2025

Development TeamPlages Vendéennes

Emmanuel Houcou took a 2nd victory this week on the Plages Vendéennes, winning today in Bretignolles-sur-Mer. In 3 legs, the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS Développement team leaves the Vendée with 3 victories.

Emmanuel Houcou

We knew it was going to be a totally different race from Thursday. The wind made the course even more demanding, on small roads, it was technical. The aim of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS Développement team was to make the race tougher. That's what we managed to do. We had 2 good riders in the breakaway in the final with Axel Bouquet and Nicolas Milesi. Behind in the peloton, we had to stay in position in case of a regroup. Two wins thanks to a great job by the team, and another yesterday together in the team time trial, I would have signed up straight away for results like that before these Plages Vendéennes. The work has been done. It's very satisfying and it gives us confidence for the rest of the season.

Léonard Cosnier

Directeur sportif

Our ambitions were the same as on Thursday, namely that the riders in the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team would make the race, have the right automatisms in the breakaways and find themselves in a position to win. We also had two options in the event of a grouped finish with Emmanuel Houcou and Hugh Harvey, who rode a great race today. He was an actor and helped Emmanuel in the final pack. Nicolas Milesi and Axel Bouquet were active in the breakaway. Nicolas was caught just three hundred metres from the line. Axel was also very fast. Emmanuel gave us a hat-trick in these last three rounds of the Plages Vendéennes. It's all very satisfying. I've seen some great things. I'm now waiting to see the same attitudes in an even more challenging context, of course. But let's savour these good moments at the start of the season. The team is listening and showing initiative. Today, as I said before, it could have gone to Axel or Nicolas. It was Emmanuel who came out on top. We're lucky to have an excellent sprinter in Emmanuel Houcou in the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team, and I hope this is just the beginning for him.

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