Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-AG2R) won the French national title on local roads in Normandy, beating Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) in a three-up sprint in Saint-Martin-de-Landelles.
The winning move took shape with a shade under 70km to go, when Lapeira, Bernard and Gachinagnard, Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Rémi Capron (Van Rysel Roubaix) forged clear of the peloton and opened a sizeable gap on a demanding circuit that included the climbs of the Côte de la Vallée and the Côte des Biards.
With two laps of the 16km circuit remaining, the escapees still had more than a minute in hand on the bunch, where there was something of a staccato rhythm to the pursuit. Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ) splintered things with an acceleration before Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) threatened to change the complexion of the race by running through his repertoire.
Alaphilippe’s repeated efforts splintered the bunch and helped to reduce the gap to the escapees, but the former world champion couldn’t get away alone, and when once he relented, the momentum seemed to tilt back towards the break.
Out in front, the on-form Lapeira sensed his opportunity, and he attacked with intent on the penultimate lap, bringing Bernard and Gachignard with him. They combined smoothly, carrying a 45-second lead into the final 5km, while Alaphilippe and Valentin Madouas’ efforts behind were snuffed out by the Decathlon-AG2R contingent.
Lapeira, already winner of three races in a breakout season, was the obvious favourite in the three-up sprint, even if Bernard, so generous in his efforts across the day, put up game resistance to take silver.
The chasers came home just over half a minute down, with Anthony Turgis taking fourth ahead of TotalEnergies teammate Sandy Dujardin.
“I dreamt about this, I’m only 5km from home. These are the roads I’ve trained on since I was a child,” said Lapeira. “The race was perfect. The team did an incredible job, there wasn’t a false step. It was the day of my dreams. I don’t have the words. The scenario was perfect. On a personal level I did a perfect race, but so did the team.”
Lapeira’s run of success this season, which included a stage win at Itzulia Basque Country, is a microcosm of Decathlon-AG2R’s astonishing campaign. The team has picked up 25 wins so far in 2024, and they will look with confidence to the Tour de France, where Lapeira is in line to make his debut.
“It’s an incredible season for us,” he said. “We’re collecting what we’ve been working on all these months. I never dreamt of a 2024 like this, the jersey is the cherry on the cake.”
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