For many sprinters, Scheldeprijs – the race known as their world championships – marked the end of their spring season but the fastest French riders still have an important appointment. Grand Prix de Denain – the next round of the Coupe de France series – is known as the French championships for the fastmen and belongs to the palmares of any successful French sprinter.

After several weeks of racing on relatively flat roads in Flanders and Northern France, the peloton is gearing up for the hillier races in the Ardennes while the stars of the previous weeks take a well-deserved rest. For the French riders, however, there is no room for rest yet as this week is the busiest of their season-long Coupe de France series as there will be three races on the menu from Thursday to Friday. With only Saturday’s Tour du Finistere suiting the climbers, the French cobbled specialists and sprinters have to keep going for another week before they can turn their attention to the second part of the season.

While Sunday’s Tro Bro Leon can be regarded as a mini version of Paris-Roubaix, Thursday’s Grand Prix de Denain is like a small version of Scheldeprijs. The only real danger on the mostly flat course is the wind and this means that the race is usually decided in a big sprint. This has turned it into one of the most prestigious races on the French calendar and as it usually gathers almost all the best French sprinters, it is often regarded as the French Championships for the fast finishers.

The two races are completely different but Grand Prix de Denain and the hilly Brabantse Pijl semi-classic have combined forces to form an important block of racing. Held on consecutive days, the two races gather largely identical fields and so offer many Amstel Gold Race contenders a chance to test their legs in two solid races just a few days before the Dutch classic. However, the races are vastly different, with the Belgian classic being a real gauge of form for the Amstel riders while the race in Denain is just a chance to keep the legs going while the sprinters go for glory.

The race was first held in 1959 as a criterium in Denain and the first edition was won by Irishman Seamus Elliott. Held close to the French-Belgian border, the Belgian neighbours dominated the early years until Jose Samyn finally became the first local winner in 1967. That didn’t change the fact that the race was mainly won by Belgians until it got a much more international flavor in the 1990s and early 2000s where top sprinters from all over the world won the race. In recent years, it has become more of a national event dominated by the best French sprinters and since 2005, only Edvald Boasson Hagen and Juan Jose Haedo have broken the French dominance. Jimmy Casper has been the main figure since that year, claiming four wins between 2005 and 201, while top sprinters Arnaud Demare (2013) and Nacer Bouhanni (2014 and 2015) have ruled in the last three years. This year its status has been underlined by the fact that it is now a 1.HC race after several years in the 1.1 category.

The race is held around the city of Denain close to Valenciennes and thus very close to the famous Paris-Roubaix paves. However, the race never makes use of the cobbles and so is a completely different event compared to its big sister that is held just a few days earlier. This is not a race for the strongmen – in Denain there is only room for fast finishers.

Last year’s race was won by Bouhanni who made it two in a row by holding off Boris Vallee and Rudy Barbier in the bunch sprint.

The course

The 202.3km race starts and finishes in Denain and can be split into several parts. First, the riders do one lap of a flat 41.6km circuit around the main city before they head onto the big loop on its northern outskirts. It has a length of 137.3km and passes through well-known Paris-Roubaix cities like Wallers and Haveluy. The first part is flat and offers three intermediate sprints in addition to the one that already featured on the first circuit. The second half is a little more undulating, giving room for a small KOM competition with KOM sprints at the 121.5km, 127.1km, 142.0km, 145.9km and 149.5km respectively. However, the climbs are very easy and will do nothing to challenge the sprinters. The final part is again flat, with a final sprint coming with 29.3km to go.

The final part of the stage is made up of a short 20.3km circuit on the southern outskirts of the city. It is completely flat and doesn’t offer many technical challenges. The finish line comes at the end of a long, straight road of several kilometres, meaning that it’s the perfect venue for the fastest riders to battle it out on pure speed.

The weather

The riders couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the French race. Thursday is forecasted to be sunny with a maximum temperature of 16 degrees. There will be a moderate wind from a southwesterly direction which means that it will first be a tailwind, then a crosswind and finally a headwind on the big circuit. On the finishing circuit, it will mainly be a headwind in the first part and a tailwind in the second part. It will be a tailwind sprint.

The favourites

The race may be known as the French Championships for sprinters but this year it’s a disappointing line-up. The three biggest French sprinters are all absent. Bryan Coquard is fully focused on Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race, Arnaud Demare crashed at the Tour of Flanders and two-time winner Nacer Bouhanni has decided not to defend his title as he recovers from a tough spring season.

As there are no big international stars either, this opens the door for one of the sprinters from the second line or one of the upcoming sprint talents to take a big victory in one of the biggest sprint races. That’s a pretty exciting opportunity for them and the field is loaded witg young sprint talents that will be keen to grab this big chance.

However, the lack of a big favourite will probably also make it more difficult to control things. There is no big team to take care of the chase and it is not evident which team will have to do the chase work. On the other hand, there are a number of sprinters who really see this as a big opportunity so an alliance between several teams is likely to form. As there won’t be much wind, there is no real risk of splits so it should be a tradition sprint race. We expect Roompot, FDJ, Wallonie, Wanty and maybe Cofidis to take care of the pace-setting duties and so we can expect it all to come down to the traditional bunch sprint.

The sprint is a fast one as it comes at the end of a long, straight road with a tailwind. This means that it’s one for the really fast guys. As it is also likely to be a rather easy race, it’s a day for the pure sprinters while the stronger riders will have a hard time in what will be a test of pure speed.

Raymond Kreder has been one of the most consistent sprinters of the 2016 season. The fast Dutchman has already been in the top 10 eleven times, most recently in the two bunch sprints at both Driedaagse de Panne and Circuit Cycliste Sarthe. He was very close to the win in Andalusia where he also showed improved climbing skills and it seems that it is just a matter of time before he takes his big win. His huge amount of great results are partly due to his speed, partly due to his great positioning skills. In this race, he can count on maybe the best train that includes Barry Markus and Andre Looij. As he has the best support and is one of the fastest here, Kreder is our favourite to win.

FDJ have won this race in 2013 and 2014 with Demare and Bouhanni but this year it will be a chance for one of their youngsters to shine. Lorrenzo Manzin has already proved that he can win at this level while he has had a harder time in the bigger races. After a difficult start, he got better at the end in Catalonia and he showed his speed by taking fourth in one of the sprints in Sarthe. In this race, he will be supported by Kevin Reza and Sebastian Chavanel which means that he has one of the best trains. If they can guide him into a good position, he will be one of the fastest.

Baptiste Planckaert is the in-form sprinter at the moment. The Wallonie rider won Tour de Normandie overall and was second in Circuit des Ardennes, seventh in Route Adelie Vitre and fifth in Paris-Camembert. He leads the Coupe de France standings and hopes to add to his tally in this race. Due to his great positioning skills, he is always up there in the sprints even though he doesn’t have the best team to support him. Usually he needs a harder race to really shine but with no big-name sprinters here, he is one of the fastest.

Rudy Barbier is another talent who is on great form. He won Paris-Troyes and Cholet Pays De Loire, thus proving that he can win at this level. Later he was second in the uphill sprint at Criterium International but he missed some racing when Roubaix took a break after Daan Myngheer’s tragic death. He would have preferred a harder race but he will be one of the fastest.

Nicola Ruffoni was one of the biggest sprinting talents when he mixed it up with Kittel and Cavendish at the 2014 Tour of Britain. Since then his progress has stalled and he is no longer as fast as he once was. However, this is a big opportunity for him to get back on track and with Sonny Colbrelli for the lead-out he has solid support. In the past, he has proved that he has the speed – he just has to rediscover those fast legs.

Wanty are here without Roy Jans and they have to find out which of their three sprinters to support. Danilo Napolitano did a good sprint in Sarthe so he is likely to be in pole position. Kenny Dehaes is another option but the Belgian hasn’t done a single sprint since joining the team. The third option is youngster Tom Devriendt who showed good potential last year. The one who gets the nod, will be very competitive as he will have a great lead-out.

Thomas Boudat will be the Direct Energie sprinter but he has not managed to build on the progress that allowed him to win Clasica Corsica last year. Things have been much better for Bert Van Lerberghe who has been riding really consistently all year but probably lacks the speed to win.

Fortuneo-Vital Concept will back Daniel McLay who showed good form by sprinting to 10th at Scheldeprijs. However, that results was more due to his good positioning than his speed.

Finally, Cofidis are here with a very strong lead-out but they don’t have the big-name sprinter to finish it off. Clement Venturini did a good sprint in Vitré but he probably needs a harder finale to excel. Borut Bozic is a second option for the team but he is not as fast as he once was.

For more sprinters, keep an eye on Maxime Daniel, Benjamin Giraud, Chris Opie, Yannis Yssaad, Enrique Sanz, Samuel Dumoulin, Andrea Pasqualon, Alberto Cecchin, Pawel Franczak, Erik Laton, Grzegorz Stepniak, Alexis Bodiot, Stephane Poulhies, David Menut, Maxime Renault, Anthony Maldonado, Jonas Koch, Yannick Martinez and Igor Boev.

***** Raymond Kreder

**** Lorrenzo Manzin, Baptiste Planckaert

*** Rudy Barbier, Nicola Ruffoni, Danilo Napolitano, Kenny Dehaes

** Thomas Boudat, Bert Van Lerberghe, Tom Devriendt, Daniel McLay, Clement Venturini

* Borut Bozic, Maxime Daniel, Benjamin Giraud, Chris Opie, Yannis Yssaad, Enrique Sanz, Samuel Dumoulin, Andrea Pasqualon, Alberto Cecchin, Pawel Franczak, Erik Laton, Grzegorz Stepniak