Former omnium world champion Thomas Boudat (Europcar) proved that he has the potential to become a great road rider when he won the inaugural edition of the Classica Corsica. After a strong trio had been brought back with 2km to go, it came down to a bunch sprint where the young Frenchman managed to beat Shane Archbold (Bora-Argon 18) and Daniele Ratto (Unitedhealthcare) into the minor podium positions.

 

With Bryan Coquard, Europcar have managed to take an excellent track talent and turn him into a great sprinter on the road. Prior to this season, they decided to try to repeat the success when they signed a contract with 2014 omnium world champion Thomas Boudat.

 

The 21-year-old Frenchman has had a slow start to his first year in the pro ranks as he has still been busy on the track but now he is ready to fully devote himself to the road. Today he proved that he has the skills to emulate Coquard when he won the inaugural edition of the Classica Corsica.

 

The new French one-day race is held two days prior to Criterium International to make for a solid block of racing on the island of Corsica and with a strange profile, it was a hard one to predict. In the first part of the race, the riders tackled two major climbs that took them up to more than 1000m of altitude but the final half was made up of a long descent and a flat 70km run along the coast.

 

As expected, Boudat and the rest of the sprinters suffered when the climbers attacked each other on the climb and at the top of the final climb, he found himself in a main group that had been distanced by more than 3 minutes. However, the 39-rider front group failed to cooperate and after three riders had taken off, the peloton brought the big chase group back.

 

Trek and Cofidis also brought the escapees back with 50km still to ride and this opened the door for new attacks. Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne), Flavien Dassonville  (Auber 93) and Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare) were the next to hit out and they managed to build an advantage of 1.30 before the chase got organized.

 

Trek and Cofidis had a hard time bringing them back and with 10km to go, they were still 50 seconds ahead. In the end, however, the efforts paid off and with 2km to go, it was all together for a bunch sprint. Here Boudat showed his potential as he beat Shane Archbold and Daniele Ratto into the minor podium spots.

 

Most of the riders will be back in action on Saturday where the Criterium International kicks off with a flat morning stage and a time trial in the afternoon. Boudat will target another victory in the former stage which should suit him fast legs perfectly.

 

A mixed course

The inaugural edition of the Classica Corsica was held on a 203.8km course from Ajaccio to Bastia. The riders travelled straight through the hilly centre of the island which meant that they went up the Col de Vizzavona and Col de Bellagranajo climbs after a flat star to the race. From there, they descended to the coastal town of Ateria and then they followed the flat coastal road for the final 73km of the race.

 

With Mathias Frank (IAM) being the only non-starter, the riders took the start under a cloudy sky but just as they headed out for the neutral start, the sun came through. That didn’t inspire the riders to ride aggressively though and they rode slowly through the streets of Ajaccio.

 

Lots of attacks

Finally, Maxime Cam (Bretagne) and Clement St. Martin (Marseille) launched the first attack but at the 9km mark, they were brought back. That set the scene for some aggressive and very fast racing over the next few kilometres.

 

Cedric Pineau (FDJ) launched the next attack and he was joined by Jerome Mainard (Armee) and Steven Tronet (Auber 93) to form a strong trio. A dozen riders took off in pursuit but on a long false flat section, it came back together.

 

An aggressive Vuillermoz

Bob Jungels (Trek) launched a short-lived attack while light rain started to fall. A little later, Remy Di Gregorio (Marseille) beat Jonathan Fumeaux (IAM) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) in the first sprint just before they hit the bottom of the biggest climb.

 

While Lucas Euser (Unitedhealthcare) left the race, Frank Schleck (Trek) was one of several riders to get distanced. At the same time, the attacking continued and it was Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r) and Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix) who made the first promising move.

 

Peraud and Pinot show ther cards

Those two riders were brought back but Vuillermoz didn’t want to give up. The Frenchman attacked again and this time he was joined by Maxime Mederel (Europcar) and Jeremy Roy (FDJ).

 

Roy fell off the pace and instead Peraud and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) bridged the gap. More riders joined from behind and when they reached the summit a big 22-rider group had formed.

 

A big group is formed

The group was composed of Péraud, Vuillermoz (AG2R La Mondiale), Pinot, Steve Morabito, Francis Mourey (FDJ), Stef Clement (IAM Cycling), Laurent Didier, Fabio Felline, Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory), Pierrick Fedrigo (Bretagne), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Mederel (Europcar ), Linus Gerdemann (Cult Energy), Janez Brajkovic (UnitedHealthcare), Marc De Maar (Team Roompot),  Di Gregorio (Marseille 13-KTM), Theo Vimpère (Auber 93) and Patrick Konrad (Bora Argon 18) while Fumeaux, Rasmus Guldhammer (Cult), Antomarchi and another riders followed 20 seconds behind. Vuillermoz led Di Gregorio and Brajkovic over the top.

 

The group split on the wet descent and Vuillermoz and Brajkovic got clear. Meanwhile, Roy, Fumeaux, Guldhammer, Jonathan Clarke (Unitedhealthcare) and St. Martin joined the chase group.

 

39 riders gather in the front

Brajkovic and Vuillermoz got an advantage of 20 seconds but they were brought back as they started the second climb. A few more riders had rejoined the group which was now made up of 39 riders and they had distanced the peloton by 1.40.

 

The front group failed to cooperate and so the peloton started to get closer. When St. Martin led Di Gregorio and Roy over the top of the climb, they were only 1.10 ahead.

 

A trio takes off

On the descent, St. Martin, Roy and Clarke attacked and they were later joined by Jan Bakelants (Ag2r), Gerdemann, Julien Loubet (Marseille), Di Gregorio and Konrad. They managed to build an advantage of 18 seconds but with 113km to go, the 39 riders were back together and still 1.10 ahead of the peloton.

 

Michel Kreder (Roompot) and St. Martin launched the next attack and were joined by Julien Guay (Auber 93) before they were again brought back. Next it was Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne), Yoann Paillot (Marseille) and Tronet who attacked and they had more luck as they managed to build an advantage of 1.15.

 

The chase gets organized

At this point, the peloton was already 4 minutes behind but as there was no cooperation in the 36-rider chase group, they were brought back by the main group. With 70km to go, they were 3.30 behind the 3 leaders who were working well together.

 

Cofidis and Trek started to chase and they started to reduce the deficit. With 58km to go, they had brought it down to just 1.20.

 

A new trio takes off

Two Roompot riders tried to bridge the gap when it was down to less than a minute but they were quickly brought back. Moments later, it all came back together with 50km still to ride.

 

That opened the door for new attacks and it was Reinier Honig (Roompot), Flavien Dassonville (Auber 93) and Kiel Reijnen (Unitedhealthcare) who managed to get clear. With 41km to go, they had a gap of 43. Seconds and it reached 1.20 before Trek and Cofidis went back to work.

 

An fierce pursuit

That didn’t have a big effect though and while Schleck worked hard for Trek, the gap even went out to 1.30. However, now more riders came to the fore and with 21km to go, it was down to 50 seconds.

 

The escapees made a great response and with 15km to go, the gap was again 1.02. 5km later, the escapees still had 50 seconds in hand but now they started to lose ground rapidly.

 

With 3km to go, the escapees were down to just 2 riders but it was all in vain.  With 2km to go, it was all back together and it was Boudat who won the sprint to take a breakthrough victory.