Despite lots of attacks in the finale, Classic Lorient Agglomération was decided in a reduced group sprint where Juliette Labous took fifth and Eglantine Rayer made it a double top ten for Team dsm-firmenich in eighth place.
A tough day over the hills in Bretagne awaited the peloton as they rolled out of Plouay this morning. A three rider break was able to form relatively early and with all Team dsm-firmenich riders in the bunch, focus remained on saving energy for the punchy finale. The gap to the break reached a maximum of six minutes and that made for a tough closing two hours of racing in the peloton where the pace was high. As the kilometres ticked by the gap to the now lone leader Andersen dropped and attacks flew from the peloton, with Elise Uijen initially going on the move for the team. Pfeiffer Georgi and Labous both tried their luck but things were all together going into the last ten kilometres. More attacks followed and Lippert got clear but the bunch closed her down, with Labous and Rayer leading Georgi into the bottom of the penultimate climb expertly. Georgi once again attacked but she couldn’t break the shackles of the bunch, with both Labous and Rayer trying something similar in the final three kilometres. Ultimately, it stayed together for a reduced bunch sprint where Labous showed a good turn of speed to take fifth, while Rayer crossed the line in eighth; rounding out a solid day of racing for the team.
