26.08.2017 World-Tour, News, Race news
Pauline second at GP Plouay
After an aggressive race from her teammates Pauline Ferrand-Prévot finished second in GP Plouay Lorient Agglomération. The UCI Women’s WorldTour race was won by Lizzie Deignan after the two broke away from the peloton in the final 5km. Elena Cecchini finished third in the sprint behind the duo to take fifth place.
“It was a super cool race!” said Ferrand-Prévot. “My teammates did an amazing job and raced in a really aggressive way.”
Hannah Barnes, Lisa Brennauer and Tiffany Cromwell were all active in the early part of the race, with Barnes in a solo move at one point that gained just over 30 seconds.
“We wanted to be aggressive and use Tiff, myself and Lisa to do that and save Pauline and Elena for the finish. I attacked when I felt the time was right. I was hoping for some other riders to have come with me but instead I just had to ride solo,” said Barnes.
“I must look a little like Pauline also because I was getting a lot of shouts on the road side when I was up the road which was nice,” joked Barnes.
With a series of fireworks of attacks in the latter half of the race, Ferrand-Prévot also tested the competition with an attack with 25km to go.
“I attacked on the climb on the second last lap and I saw that it was hard for the others, with only four riders coming with me. I was outnumbered that time with two Boels riders but it gave me confidence for the last lap,” said Ferrand-Prévot.
The peloton came back together in the final lap and Deignan was the first to attack on the final climb with Ferrand-Prévot hot on her wheel. “I was the only one who could follow Lizzie at the end. I knew that she is one of the best sprinters and it will be hard to beat her. I was already happy to be second and she raced smart at the end letting me ride on the front for the last 700m. I can’t be disappointed with second place and my shape is in a good way.”
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will now race the UCI MTB World Championships in Australia, while her teammates look to the six-day stage race Holland Ladies Tour starting 29 August.
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