Warren Barguil was first home for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL at the end of a tough day out in the hills of Brittany, north western France at the Bretagne Classic. The one day race that features over 50 climbs throughout its 259.8 kilometre parcours is always an attritional one and today was no different with two riders spending a large portion of the race out front before being caught with 50 kilometres still left to race. After the catch was made, the expected attacks started to fly but nothing stuck, making for a fast and frantic final hour of racing.
Barguil was amongst the attacks late on, trying to get clear in smaller groups ahead of the finish but to no avail. He came over the line in what was left of the peloton six places ahead of teammate Nils Eekhoff who also made the front group, behind the day’s winner, Hirschi, who jumped clear on the final climb of the day to finish a handful of seconds ahead of the rest.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Pim Lightart commented after the finish: “We had a plan to try to have as easy a race as possible with Tobi who was showing great form out of Denmark and would be our finisher. I think the boys rode well together, always forward in position. But in the end Casper and Tobi were dropped, both just didn’t quite have the legs. We were left with Warren and Nils at the front. Warren did an amazing job, following every move and he was always there. We decided to go for a sprint with Nils but he didn’t have it at the end and also didn’t have an opening in the finish to open up his sprint. So, we finished empty handed but overall the teamwork today was good to see.”
