Having already taken third in the Tour du Finistere, Bretagne ended one of the most important weekends of their season on a high note when they put three riders in the top 10 in the Tro-Bro Leon. Pierre-Luc Perichon escaped in the finale to take 4th while Benoit Jarrier and Erwann Corbel played their cards in the sprint and came away with 5th and 10th respectively.

With two rounds of the Coupe de France held on successive days in their home region, this weekend was a big one for the Bretagne team. They got it all off to a solid start in Saturday's hilly Tour de Finistere where Armindo Fonseca took a fine 3rd and yesterday they put in an excellent performance in the Tro-Bro Leon.

The race is known as the small Paris-Roubaix due to its many sectors of gravel roads and is a challenging affair. Nonetheless, the local team had seven riders in the small peloton that caught the early escape with 50km to go.

The team had Anthony Delaplace in the strong 7-rider break that escaped in the finale but when Adrien Petit and Flavien Dassonville took off in what proved to be the race-winning move, the Frenchman failed to join them. Instead, he was caught by the peloton and so the team was one of several formations on the defensive.

With the win out of reach, Pierre-Luc Perichon escaped with Cedric Pineau and those two stayed away to battle it out for the final spot on the podium. Perichon came away with fourth while his teammates Benoit Jarrier and Erwann Corbell completed an excellent collective performance by taking 5th and 10th respectively.

The good results saw the team win the teams classification and extend their overall lead in the Coupe de France standings.

"The scenario was much different than last year when I was in the early break [and finished 7th, ed.]," Perichon said. "Today, it all happened in the finale. I had several punctures and Benoit (Jarrier) and I had to chase for a long time until we finally reached the rear end of the bunch. It cost us a lot of energy.

"When we caught the group that had included Adrien Petit, we chased to reopen the race. When I saw that I did not have the legs to win, I played team strategy so that we could win this round of the Coupe de France and widen the gap in the standings. Behind, in the group of 25, I knew that Benoit and Erwann were ready to sprint."

"I expect to be in the front at this Tro Bro Léon," Jarrier said. "With the legs that I have right now, I even aimed at the win. Unfortunately, I punctured at the worst time, when the race really took after at the 145km mark. I really thought it was over for me. At one point, I even thought about quitting.

"Brice Feillu came to help me. He did a hell of a job. He rode so hard. It really helped me. Once I caught the peloton, recovered a little to be able to do something in the finale. Pierre-Luc Périchon managed to get clear with a group and I stayed behind. 

"In the peloton, we were really well represented. There were 6 riders from the team. The team did nothing wrong. We were 4th, 5th and 10th. We just missed the win.

"I would really like to participate in the Tour de France. This is what I focus on now. Since the beginning of the season I think I have proved my abilities. There are still three races to prove that I belong to the roster: La Roue Tourangelle, Frankfurt Grand Prix and GP de la Somme."

"In the final I felt very good," Corbel said. "I have not done ​​much throughout the day, unlike the team which worked really well. I didn't try to go into breaks because I wanted to save me for a sprint finish. 

"With less than two kilometers to the finish I went with a group that also included Benoit to try to take 5th. Benoit finished 5th, I was 10th. So it's still good. Of the 25 that remained in the finale, we still had 6 from the team and were the only team that was so well represented. This proves that we are good."