While most have their eyes firmly fixed on Milan-Sanremo, racing heats up in France as well. After a break of more than a month, the Coupe de France will continue with two races this weekend. Saturday’s Classique Loire-Atlantique will kick the weekend off and its hilly course makes it one of the most unpredictable races on the calendar.

Milan-Sanremo gets most of the attention but for the French riders, the Coupe de France series is almost extremely important. The race series carries huge prestige in its home country and always creates very exciting racing. It all started in January when Dries Devenyns won the GP La Marseillaise and now it is finally time for the second and third round this weekend.

First up is Saturday’s Classqiue Loire-Atlantique which is a relatively new event. First held in 2000 as a national event, it has gradually moved up in the UCI hierarchy, culminating in 2011 when it was granted 1.1 status, and it was added to the Coupe de France calendar one year later. The race is held on a hilly circuit that is very hard to control and it has not been decided in a sprint since it got its current status in 2011.  Since that year, Lieuwe Westra, Florian Vachon, Edwig Cammaerts and most recently Alexis Gougeard in both 2014 and 2015 have taken the wins and the winning move has always been made up of 1 or 2 riders.

As most of the Coupe de France races, it is a predominantly French affair. The field will be made up of all the major French teams as well as pro continental teams Caja Rural, Topsport Vlannderen, Wanty, Androni and Roth while Euskadi Basque Country, Wallonie and 3M add some international flavor to the continental teams.

The course

Classique Loire-Atlantique is a circuit race that is held on a 16.8km circuit in the hilly area south of the city of La Haye Fouassiére. The riders will cover the circuit 11 times for a total distance of 182.8km. The circuit is a tough one as it includes the Chateau-Thebaud and St-Fiacre-sur-Maine climbs 9.8km and 7.4km from the finish respectively. From there, the terrain is rolling and includes an uphill drag of a kilometre that starts with 2500m to go. From there, it is mainly flat, with the finishing straight being slightly uphill. In the finale, the riders will follow a long, slightly winding road with no major technical challenges.

The weather

Saturday will be a sunny day with a maximum temperature of 13 degrees. There will be a moderate wind from an easterly direction which means that there will mostly be a crosswind on the circuit. It will be a headwind in the final 3km.

The favourites

Coupe de France races are generally very unpredictable. Most of them are held on lumpy courses that are hard to control. If they had been major international races, most of them would have finished in bunch sprints but the aggressive approach means that it rarely happens. Only a few select events on the calendar have been dominated by sprinters while most are won by breakaways that get away after a very fast start and includes riders from the major teams.

In that sense, Classique Loire-Atlantique is a typical Coupe de France race. As said, the race has never been decided in a sprint since it was granted 1.1 status. The peloton has rarely been far behind but they have never managed to bring it back together. The hilly circuit is really an invitation to attacks and that makes the race very unpredictable. It’s a bit of a lottery to predict which riders can make it into the right group and as the race has always been won by a lone rider or in a 2-rider sprint, a fast finish is rarely needed.

Much will depend on how the main teams approach the race. On paper, Bryan Coquard is the big favourite but the Frenchman is coming back from injury so Direct Energie are unlikely to focus 100% on their sprinter. However, FDJ are here with both young sprinters Marc Sarreau and Lorrenzo Manzin so they are probably going for a sprint. Unfortunately, they don’t have the best team here an as it seems that every other major team won’t have their eyes on a bunch kick, we expect it to be won from a breakaway. Hence, we will be looking to in-form riders who have the strength in hilly terrain to both join the right move and finish things off.

Cofidis and Direct Energie both have formidable line-ups and could very well have strength in numbers in the group that ultimately goes clear. One of the leaders of the latter team is Sylvain Chavanel who has shown great form all year. He is pleased to return to the Coupe de France races after his stint abroad and this is a race that suits him really well. He is extremely strong in moderately hilly terrain and he is fast in a sprint from a small group. He won a stage in Etoile de Besseges and when he nearly stayed away with a late move in Paris-Nice, breakaway companion Sep Vanmarcke was impressed by his strength. Chavanel has all the skills to win this race and he will be hard to beat if he joins the right break. Hence, he is our favourite.

Florian Senechal is knocking on the door for a big win. He has proved his impressive strength in Belgium, most notably in the epic Le Samyn where he was one of the strongest riders. A few days ago he was in the break at Nokere Koerse and now he will be keen to go on the attack again. This is a great race for him as he climbs well on short climb and is fast in a sprint. An in-form Senechal stands out as one of the favouries.

Dimitri Claeys has proved that he deserves the chance that he has been given by Wanty-Groupe Gobert. He has been riding strongly all year, most notably at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad where he was 12th overall. This is the kind of aggressive race that he really likes as he is very powerful in lumpy terrain and has a decent final kick.

Another rider with great form is Delio Fernandez. The Spaniard was clearly the best Delko rider in Paris-Nice where he was part of the break with Chavanel and Vanmarcke that nearly denied the sprinters. He has many of the same skills as Chavanel and Senechal as he is a great climber and fast in a sprint.

If it comes down to a sprint, Bryan Coquard is obviously the big favourite. He may have just returned from injury but he claims to be in a competitive condition. He was sprinting extremely well before his crash, winning sprints in Besseges with big margins. He is not always very good at positioning but he has improved a lot and is clearly the fastest rider here.

His biggest rivals in a sprint will be FDJ who have both Sarreau and Manzin here. The former is not in his best form while the latter is riding well. Hence, we expect Manzin to be the protected rider. FDJ have a great lead-out here and this could make all the difference for the fast youngster who has proved that he can win at this level.

Baptiste Planckaert is another great sprinter who is very consistent in the French sprints. Most recently he showed his form by taking fourth in Nokere Koerse. He will be one of the favourites in a sprint. The same goes for Antoine Demoitie who has even proved that he is not afraid of going on the attack in the French Cup races.

For more strong riders for a breakaway, keep an eye on Sebastien Turgot, Yoann Offredo, Laurent Pichon, Anthony Turgis, Kenneth Vanbilsen, Tony Hurel, Thomas Voeckler, Pierrick Fedrigo, Arnaud Gerard, Julien El Fares, Quentin Jauregui, Pello Bilbao, Jaime Roson, Angel Madrazo, Sebastien Delfosse, Eliot Lietaer, Floris De Tier, Guillaume Levarlet and Maxime Vantomme.

The list of sprinters includes Romain Feillu, Maxime Daniel, Hugo Hofstetter, Yannick Martinez, Bilbao, Daniele Ratto, Marco Benfatto, Luca Pacioni and Rudy Barbier.

***** Sylvain Chavanel

**** Florian Senechal, Dimitri Claeys

*** Delio Fernandez, Bryan Coquard, Baptiste Planckaert, Lorrenzo Manzin

** Antoine Demoitie, Romain Feillu, Sebastien Turgot, Pello Bilbao, Thomas Voeckler

* Daniele Ratto, Angel Madrazo, Marc Sarreau, Kenneth Vanbilsen, Tony Hurel, Eliot Lietaer, Julien El Fares, Yoann Offredo, Pierrick Fedrigo