Daniel McLay (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) confirmed his status as the biggest British sprinting talent by taking his first professional win on European soil at the big French sprint classics, GP de Denain. With an impressive turn of speed, he came from far back to narrowly pass Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) in the bunch kick in a beautiful display of power, with Kenny Dehaes (Wanty) failing to do better than third after having been given a great lead-out.

 

In 2014, Daniel McLay won several races in France, including a stage at the Tour de l’Avenir, and firmly established himself as the future British top sprinter. However, he failed to get much attention as he chose to follow an unorthodox path by turning professional with the Fortuneo-Vital Concept team instead of teaming up with British Cycling and Team Sky.

 

Since then he has learned the trade in the French team, mostly working for Yauheni Hutarovich but also getting his own personal opportunities. In his first year at the pro level, he won a stage at the Tropicale Amissa Bngo on a day when he was actually expected to work for his Belarusian teammate but apart from that he didn’t achieve any major results in the 2015 season.

 

This year he hasn’t been much in the spotlight either but there were signs of his growing potential when he sprinted to 10th at Scheldeprijs in the race known as the World Championships for sprinters. That gave him confidence for today’s GP de Denain whose flat course has given it a reputation as the French Championships for the fastmen.

 

This time McLay was the clear leader of the team and his team showed their confidence in their leader by working early in the race to bring the break back. However, the team didn’t have a real train in the finale and so the Brit was left to fend for himself. However, he found the gaps in what was a hugely confusing and uncontrollable sprint to come from far back and claim the biggest win of his career and make up for a poor start to the season for his team.

 

Moments after starting their lap of the 20.3km finishing circuit, a 2-rider break was caught and the scene was set for what would be a confusing bunch sprint. Nicola Ruffoni’s Bardiani team maintained their position on the front in the early part of the circuit, with Simone Andreetta and Sonny Colbrelli setting the pace. Delko and Wallonie positioned themselves next to them as the sprint trains gathered near the front.

 

Nicola Boem took a huge turn for Bardiani and got some assistance from one of his teammates before Cofidis took over with Rayane Bouhanni and Kenneth Vanbilsen. Sebastien Delfosse and the Wallonie team were next to take charge as they entered the final 10km.

 

Cofidis briefly tried to line up their train but Vanbilsen lost his teammates and instead six CCC riders formed a train on the front. They slowly lost riders but did well to maintain the front until only 4km remained. Here Cofidis tried to pass them but it was Topsport Vlaanderen that won the battle.

 

Direct Energie tried to launch a train but with on they were short on manpower and so were pleased to get some welcome assistance from a Roth rider. However, as it was a very wide road, it was important not to hit the front too early and so Direct Energie disappeared when the trains started to sprint ahead with less than 3km to go.

 

Wanty-Groupe Gobert won the battle and had three riders on the front as they approached the flamme rouge. An FDJ rider surged ahead to lead the peloton under the red flame and this set Wanty up for the perfect lead-out.

 

Danilo Napolitano delivered Kenny Dehaes in a great position but the Belgian was unable to keep up with the faster riders. Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie) and Pawel Franczak (Verva) both passed him and looked like they were sprinting for the win until Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) came flying and seemed to be destined to take the biggest win of his short career.

 

That’s when McLay suddenly came flying from very far back, finding several small gaps in the hectic sprint and reaching the front just in time to pass Boudat. The Brit took the lead with less than 50m to go and then sat up to celebrate a very impressive sprint win. Boudat was second while Dehaes took third.

 

Planckaert finished fourth which was enough for him to extend his overall lead in the Coupe de France. He now has a comfortable buffer over Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) and Rudy Barbier (Roubaix) who are tied in second place.

 

It’s a busy week in the Coupe de France as there are another two races on the menu in the weekend. On Saturday, the riders will be in action in the hilly Tour du Finistere while Sunday is the day of the gravel roads at Tro Bro Leon, the race known as the mini Paris-Roubaix.

 

A flat course

The 57th edition of the GP de Denain was held on an almost completely flat 202.2km course around the city of Denain. It was made up of three circuits. The first one was 41.6km long while the second was the longest at 137.3km. It included five very small climbs in the second half, with the final top coming 52.8km from the finish. The final circuit was 20.3km and completely flat. The finishing straight was long and wide, making it a perfect scene for a bunch sprint.

 

Bright sunshine greeted the riders as they gathered in Denain at noon. As usual, it was a fast start with many attacks. Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix) opened the game and established a small group. However, the move was quickly neutralized while Gilbert Ducournau (South East) was the first rider to get dropped.

 

Three riders get clear

A very aggressive Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) escaped in a solo breakaway, but he was back in the fold as they hit the 20km mark. The many attacks continued, and along the way, a very dangerous 12-man break was even established, but no one could get sufficient freedom in the initial phase.

 

After 33km of racing, things were back together, and it was at this point that the break was established. Geniez was active again, and this time he was joined by Gert Joeaar (Cofidis) and Tony Hurel (Direct Energie). When the group had built up a lead of 35 seconds, Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani) tried to bridge the gap, but he never got closer than 20 seconds before he was swallowed up by the peloton that had not yet given up.

 

Five teams start to chase

After 48km of racing, the gap had gone out to more than a minute as the field finally took a breather. After 54km, it was already 3.15, which was a signal for Ag2r to start the chase. For a long time they kept it between 3 and 4 minutes, but when they didn’t not get much help, they slowed down. After two hours at an average speed of an impressive 45.2 km/h, the gap had gone out to 4.20.

 

The bigger advantage prompted ONE to help Ag2r, and they had reduced the lead to 4.05 as they hit the feed zone 88km from the finish. Here Roubaix also started to chase and quickly Delko and Fortuneo-Vital Concept also emerged at the front. Those five teams worked together to reduce the gap to 3.25 with 72km to go. Meanwhile, Joeaar won the first KOM sprint ahead of Hurel and Geniez while the former two swapped positions for the second sprint.

 

The gap comes down

It was an excellent alliance between Delko, ONE, Roubaix, Ag2r and Fortuneo-Vital Concept and they slowly brought the front trio back. Jesse Sergent (Ag2r) and Fredrik Strand Galta (Delko) were some of the riders who took some huge turns to bring the gap down to 2.20 as they entered the final 60km.

 

Hurel led Geniez and Joeaar over the top of the third climb while Wallonie became the sixth team to lend a hand to the chase, working for Coupe de France leader Baptiste Planckaert. The added firepower had a big effect as the gap was down to 1.20 when Hurel led Joeaar and Geniez over the top of the fourth climb with 54km to go.

 

Ag2r attack in the crosswind

As the peloton hit the climb, Ag2r made a big attack in the crosswinds and Sergent, Gediminas Bagdonas, Sebastien Minard, Samuel Dumoulin, Sebastien Turgot and one of their teammates created an 8-rider front group that also included a rider from CCC and one from Roubaix. The group stayed clear for a few kilometres but the attempt was futile.

 

The acceleration had reduced the gap to just 15 seconds and the break quickly sat up as Ag2r continued to ride on the front. Just before the junctions was made, Joeaar and Geniez upped the pace to be the first two riders across the line in the KOM final KOM sprint but with 50km to go, it was all back together.

 

Cofidis try to split the field

The attacking started immediately, with a Topsport Vlaanderen rider making a first attempt. A strong group with Bagdonas and Joeaar briefly got clear before Maxime Farazijn (Topsport) and Joeaar surged clear. The pair stayed away for a few kilometres but as Cofidis hit the front, they were again brought back.

 

Loic Chetout set the pace for Cofidis before the French team tried to split the field in the crosswind. Hugo Hofstetter, Chetout and Kenneth Vanbilsen were all active on the front but there were never any gaps. Instead, the situation calmed down.

 

More attacks

Stijn Steels (Topsport Vlaanderen) was quick to use the slower to pace to attack and he got an immediate gap. Seven riders bridged the gap but that group was too big and so the peloton again started to chase hard. They quickly brought it back together, opening the door for new attacks.

 

Hofstetter and a Gazprom-Rusvelo rider briefly got clear but they were back in the fold as the peloton entered the final 40km. Cofidis changed their tactic and it was Chetout and Rayane Bouhanni who rode hard on the front for the French team.

 

Fournier and Quemeneur get clear

When Cofidis stopped their acceleration, the attacking started again. After a few moves, Marc Fournier (FDJ) surged clear and as nobody reacted, he quickly got a big advantage. Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) bridged the gap and as the peloton took a short breather, the pair entered the final 35m with a 20-second advantage.

 

The entire ONE team gathered on the front, keeping the gap at 25 seconds.The gap went out to 30 seconds which was the signal for Wallonie to join forces with ONE. While Quemeneur led Fournier across the line in the final intermediate sprint, those two teams stabilized th situation.

 

Entering Denain, the fight for positioned heated up and after a Verva rider had taken a turn on the front, Bardiani took control. Simone Andreetta and Sonny Colbrelli set the pace and while the sprint teams started to organize themselves, they led the peloton across the line to start the lap of the 20.3km finishing circuit. Moments later it was all back together and the scene was set for the bunch sprint.