Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) confirmed his status as the leading French stage racer by riding to an impressive stage win on the Col de l’Ospedale in the Criterium International. Having attacked 1.5km from the top of the climb, he passed lone leader Pierre Latour (Ag2r) before soling across the line to win both the stage and the overall. Latour finished second on both the stage and the GC while Arnold Jeannesson (Cofidis) and Sam Oomen (Giant-Alpecin) completed the podium in the stage and the GC respectively.

 

Thibaut Pinot: The TT victory was the highlight of the weekend

Pinot was supported by a great team. First there was the efforts of William Bonnet and Laurent Pichon who just paid for their efforts on the second climb. “We wanted to stay together,” explains sports director Franck Pineau, “and we preferred to wait for them so that they could continue their work. In fact, throughout the day, the seven teammates of Thibaut were perfect and if one of them had failed, we would have struggled to win. It's done and I must say it is a birthday gift they gave me."

 

Jeremy Roy and Anthony Roux took over and then young Christian Eiking produced his effort. At the start of the Col de l'Ospedale, the gap was reduced to 45 seconds. Sébastien Reichenbach then took the helm and continued until 4km remained.

 

Alexandre Geniez had Pinot on his wheel in the finale and when he swung off, there was only Latour in the lead with 2 kilometers to go. Pinot accelerated 1.5 kilometers from the finish.

 

"It was not an easy stage,” said Pinot, “with a breakaway on the first climb and a first hour with 50 km/h. It was not easy to manage but my team was perfect. After the work of each of my teammates, I had to win this stage and I hurt myself to do it. The team deserved it.

 

"We're here to win, I enjoy it. Last year I won five races but the difference with 2015 is that we had to wait until April to win our first race. Now, after Arthur Vichot in the Tour du Haut-Var, Arnaud Démare won a stage of Paris-Nice and Milan-San Remo and I have won the Criterium International, the team is in a very good spiral. A very good group dynamic and I think it will continue like that.

 

”I thought that I would win the time trial because I took fourth place on the same course last year, I knew it suited me well. I am progressing constantly in this discipline, I have a new bike. Well, I was confident!

 

”Compared to last year, the conditions were perhaps different. It's true I'm in the same time as the winner in 2015 and I did it in the last kilometer with a false flat where I think I’ve never had so much pain earlier in my career .

 

“I thought I had not won a TT as a youth rider but my brother told me that I had won one at the Tour of Ardeche for juniors. I do not remember.

 

"I came to win, this is a major event which has a track record. The big satisfaction comes mostly from my victory in the time trial. As it was the first of my career, it's pretty special. This is the biggest satisfaction for me this weekend because we did not expect it. The day today was very difficult, we had a very strong team, we proved that we were really good. The break was strong but we never panicked, every guy on the team has done his job as he should.”

 

 

Pierre Latour confirms status as next big French climber

Pierre Latour said:

 

"We decided to make the race to hard for FDJ. 6km from the finish, Peruad told me to go and when I turned around, I saw that he had attacked too. He sat up, I continued my efforts to force those behind to keep a fast pace. Well, I do not know if I was going so fast and when Geniez was eliminated, Thibaut'found himself alone. In the village of Ospedale, I did not look back. Thibaut caught me and I was able to keep his wheel forjust ten meters. My break yesterday (during the first stage in the morning) cost me energy, but I am also reassured because I was not well at Paris-Nice.

 

“My first goal when I attacked was to help Jean-Christophe Peraud. But th FDJ Team remained vigilant. When Jean-Christophe stopped his effort, I kept going. Then I tried to stay in touch with Thibaut Pinot but I failed. I am happy but surprised to finish second. I didn’t expect it after a difficult Paris-Nice. It’s a surprise because yesterday I was in the breakaway and I wasted energy.”

 

Sam Oomen confirms huge potential with Criterium Internation podium

It was a strong day for 20-year old Sam Oomen as he raced to 5th in the final stage of Criterium International, climbing to third in the general classification. Together with this strong pacing, he also became second in the young rider’s classification.

 

Sam Oomen was able to stay in the group of favorites that was rapidly thinning down as the road peaked upwards. With just three kilometers to go there were only six riders left, among them Oomen.

 

After Oomen neutralized an attack of Lawson Craddock (Cannondale-Garmin) he was not able to follow the leader of the GC Thibaut Pinot (FDJ). Sam Oomen finished 26 seconds behind the winner Pinot, as fifth rider crossing the finish line. Because of this result, he climbed onto the general classification podium. The third place in the GC and the second place in the young rider’s classification, it was a successful Critérium International for the youngster.

 

Arthur van Dongen,  Team Coach, said: “It was a fantastic performance by the team, with Fredrik [Ludvigsson], Chad [Haga] and Carter [Jones]  keeping Sam out of the wind and in a good position before the climb. After a great final climb, Sam did lose the white jersey but he climbed to third place on GC. This was more than expected and a great showing for the team – we know his talent, be he showed today that he’s made a really strong step forward.”

 

Sam Oomen added: “Yesterday’s opening stage I didn’t feel perfect, after restarting the racing after three and a half weeks off. The time trial face me a lot of confidence and went really well on the road, and after that I started today’s stage confident and happy that I could trust the support of my team mates.

 

“On the final climb of 8km to go I was surprised by the small group that got away, but I was still feeling good. My focus was on defending white jersey and racing for a strong result overall. The result feels like confirmation of the hard work and I’m really happy with the result.”

 

Arnold Jeannesson back on track with great ride in Corsica

"I knew that I should not move until the last 3 km. When the last team member of the FDJ team, Geniez, swung off, Latour had anticipated. I attacked and when Thibaut countered I have not managed to take his wheel, it was over,” Jeannesson said.

 

Dominik Nerz back on track as best German stage race rider

Best placed Bora-Argon 18 rider Sam Bennett, who secured the first win of the season in stage 1, was back in a supporting role for the climbers in the team.

 

With 10k to go all riders from the breakaway had been caught and the main group was already down to just about 15 riders. Within this group BORA – ARGON 18 riders Dominik Nerz, Emanuel Buchmann and Paul Voss all did a strong performance. When AG2R made their move, the pace again increased in the main group and only Dominik Nerz was able to stay with the yellow jersey among 8 riders.

 

Dominik Nerz crossed the line in superb 7th position, for sure his best performance in the BORA – ARGON 18 colours. He finished the Critérium International in a great 7th place. With also Buchmann in 13th and Paul Voss in 14th position, and the victory in stage1, the team had its best weekend so far.

 

“This was a stage for real men! From the beginning the pace was really high and Bartosz [Hurzarski], Gregor [Muhlberger] and Sam did a great job to keep us in position. On the first climb I tried to get in the group, but missed it, what maybe turned out to be not bad in the end for me. But I also lost some energy there.

 

”In the final Patrick [Konrad] supported Emu, Paul and me very well. When we hit the last climb I could not believe that the pace was that high from the beginning after the whole day was already that fast, but then a lot of guys lost contact and that gave me confidence. In the end I could not follow the last attacks and decided to find my own rhythm.

 

”A 7th place is a very good result and it is also a real boost in confidence for the next weeks after all the problems I had last season. A big “thank you” to the whole team and also the staff that is always there to help. Especially Christian Pömer did a great job in preparing every stage here really well for us,” Dominik Nerz said,

 

“Today was a really hard stage. You would expect on a day like this, that an early breakaway is controlled easily from the peloton. But today the speed was really high the whole day. Because it was also up and down all the time, I think a lot of riders were already in their “red zone” hitting the last climb. These are the races that suit Dominik, he is very strong when the pace is high all day long and therefore also the final is hard, but not that punchy any more.

 

”He rode a magnificent race today and I am very proud and feel also a big relief because he finally could show his full potential again. I am sure there is more to come if his build up is going well like in the past weeks. He is a rider than has the ability to always score a top ten GC result in the big stage races,” Christian Pömer, sports director, said.

 

No repeat win for Pierrick Fedrigo in Criterium International

Fortuneo-Vital Concept had Anthony Delaplacein the break while Pierrick Fedrigo finished 18th

 

Francis Mourey said: "The legs were good, we were active all day. We had Anthony in the break but he suffereda little bit. We tried to support Pierrick Fedrigo. We had a good week together, there is a very good cohesion in the team.”

 

Anthony Delaplace said: "I thought I had done the hard part by joining the break but I made a lot of effort early in the stage and I was not able to follow them to the end. Of course I am a little frustrated, especially for the team I would have liked to go further.”

 

Mechanical takes ONE captain out of contention

The plan for ONE was for Dion Smith, James Oram, Karol Domagalski and Richard Handley to position themselves in the breakaway but when the move finally slipped away they didn’t have a presence there. The relentless climbs throughout the race saw only Smith, Oram and Handley left in the peloton with 50km to go.

 

However, a mechanical for James Oram meant he required a bike change going into the bottom of the last climb and the unforgiving pace of the peloton meant he didn’t get back on. Smith waited for Oram in the hope of helping him bridge the gap but the pair were unsuccessful. With 10km to go Dion Smith was encouraged to go on a solo effort up the endless ascent to the finish. The young kiwi crossed the line in 27th place leaving him 26th overall on the General Classification with Oram and Handley not far behind.

 

The team travel to Belgium tomorrow morning for 3 Days of de Panne which will start on Tuesday 29th March.

 

Bad day for Stölting at Criterium International

Team Stölting Service Group couldn’t follow the pace on the final climb, Christian Mager crossed the line as 48th.

 

Sports Director Jochen Hahn said: “We tried to get someone into the break, but because of the high speed no break formed for a long time. We simply chose the wrong tactic today. Nevertheless it was good to be able to test the riders’ legs in a demanding race.”