2021 Route Adélie de Vitré (1.1), France
25th edition: Friday, October 1, 2021
Route Adélie de Vitré podium history | 2019 edition (Race not run in 2020) | 2022 edition
Two circuits near Vitré : 6 x 21.1 km + 8 x 8.9 km = 197.8 km
Arvid de Kleijn wins in Vitré
Weather at Vitré (in Brittany, east of Rennes) at 2:15 PM, local time: 15C (59F) rain showers, with the wind from the south at 19 km/hr (12 mph). The forecast for the remainder of the afternoon is for a 50% chance of rain
The race: Here's the report from winner Arvid de Kleijn's Rally Cycling team.
Dutch powerhouse Arvid de Kleijn took his second victory for Rally Cycling at La Route Adélie de Vitré, the 12th round of the Coupe de France. De Kleijn dominated the finale, outsprinting his rivals to open up clear daylight between him and the rest of the field.
“It feels great to be back on the podium,” de Kleijn said afterwards in Vitré. “Like every sprinter, I’ve had some bad luck here and there, so today it was so nice to be back winning a bike race.”
De Kleijn utilised the strength and power of first Adam de Vos and then Colin Joyce to reel the late breakaway rider in before he launched his devastating sprint.
“They put me where I wanted to be in the last kilometer. There were a lot of corners and I went all out with 300 meters to go to catch Emmanuel Morin (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) before the line.”
The race took place in torrential conditions with heavy rain falling on the route for the majority of the laps around the Breton town.
Nickolas Zukowsky spent most of the day out front and played a vital role in the “little gorilla’s” victory. The Canadian was initially in a breakaway of three before the group swelled to seven in the closing stages.
The team played their tactics perfectly with Zukowksy in the break, as the riders behind did not have to chase. With a proven finisher behind in de Kleijn, Zukowsky just needed to sit on the wheels out front.
“It was nice to see that he had such great legs,” de Kleijn said about his teammate. “It really was a team effort. For sure I need the legs to win but the team did a great job. It’s a great feeling to have guys riding for me like that, it feels like a family.”
It was a confidence boosting victory for the Dutchman who took the top step of the podium at the Tour of Turkey in similarly harsh weather. This time though, the 27-year-old had plenty of time to get his arms in the air.
The team will stay in France for Saturday’s Classic Loire-Atlantique and Paris-Bourges on October 7. With both having favorable parcours for either a strong breakaway rider or a bunch sprinter, there remain plenty of chances as the team begins to close out 2021 in style.
Les Woodland's history of the Tour de France: Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bike Race is available as an audiobook here.
Complete Results:
197.8 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.732 km/hr
| 1 | DE KLEIJN Arvid | Rally Cycling | 4hr 44min 23sec |
| 2 | MORIN Emmanuel | Cofidis | @ 2sec |
| 3 | TESSON Jason | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 4 | REINDERS Elmar | Riwal Cycling | 0:04 |
| 5 | GIRMAY HAILU Biniam | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 6 | FUENTES Angel | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 7 | REYNDERS Jens | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 8 | ZINGLE Axel | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 9 | BARTHE Cyril | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 10 | KONGSTAD Tobias | Riwal Cycling | s.t. |
| 11 | KRIEGER Alexander | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 12 | SPRENGERS Thomas | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 13 | VERMEULEN Emiel | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | s.t. |
| 14 | MANZIN Lorrenzo | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 15 | BAKELANTS Jan | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 16 | JAIME Alex | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 17 | CARDIS Romain | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 18 | VANHOOF Ward | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 19 | SIEMONS Stijn | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 20 | LOUVEL Matis | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
| 21 | ZUKOWSKY Nickolas | Rally Cycling | 0:10 |
| 22 | DAUPHIN Florian | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 23 | CALMEJANE Lilian | Ag2r-Citroen | s.t. |
| 24 | APERS Ruben | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 25 | DE VREESE Laurens | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 26 | SIMON Julien | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 27 | ADRIA Roger | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 28 | OKAMIKA Ander | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 29 | DE WILDE Gilles | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 30 | MARQUEZ Marti | Kern Pharma | 0:14 |
| 31 | LOPEZ Jordi | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 32 | MADOUAS Valentin | Groupama-Fdj | s.t. |
| 33 | DELETTRE Alexandre | Delko | s.t. |
| 34 | PEÑALVER Manuel | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 35 | CANTON Isaac | Burgos-BH | 0:19 |
| 36 | VAN NIEKERK Morne | St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:21 |
| 37 | URRUTY Maxime | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | s.t. |
| 38 | LEBRETON Jacques | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 39 | DOUBEY Fabien | TotalEnergies | 0:23 |
| 40 | VAN STAEYEN Michael | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 41 | DE VOS Adam | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 42 | THWAITES Scott | Alpecin-Fenix | 0:27 |
| 43 | VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 44 | JARNET Maxime | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | 0:29 |
| 45 | ANTOMARCHI Julien | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:30 |
| 46 | BONNAMOUR Franck | B&B Hotels | 0:37 |
| 47 | FERRON Valentin | TotalEnergies | 0:40 |
| 48 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 49 | BASTIAENS Ayco | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 50 | ROTA Lorenzo | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 51 | EYSKENS Jeroen | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 52 | MARTIN Guillaume | Cofidis | 0:45 |
| 53 | GODON Dorian | Ag2r-Citroen | s.t. |
| 54 | JOYCE Colin | Rally Cycling | 0:48 |
| 55 | GALVAN Francisco | Kern Pharma | 0:52 |
| 56 | SCHÖNBERGER Sebastian | B&B Hotels | 0:55 |
| 57 | FERNANDEZ Delio | Delko | 0:56 |
| 58 | HARDY Romain | Arkea-Samsic | 1:01 |
| 59 | FERASSE Thibault | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 60 | DUCHESNE Antoine | Groupama-Fdj | s.t. |
| 61 | CHRISTEN Fabio | Nippo-Provence-Pts Conti | 1:31 |
| 62 | OURSELIN Paul | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 63 | DE TIER Floris | Alpecin-Fenix | 1:33 |
| 64 | BIDARD François | Ag2r-Citroen | 2:26 |
| 65 | DUVAL Julien | Ag2r-Citroen | s.t. |
| 66 | PICHON Laurent | Arkea-Samsic | 2:35 |
| 67 | PEREZ Anthony | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 68 | BOUHANNI Nacer | Arkea-Samsic | 3:33 |
| 69 | COQUARD Bryan | B&B Hotels | 4:31 |
| 70 | RIOU Alan | Arkea-Samsic | s.t. |
| 71 | HAILEMICHAEL Kinfe Mulu | Delko | 4:49 |
| 72 | PRODHOMME Nicolas | Ag2r-Citroen | 5:14 |
| 73 | FONT MAS Bernat | EvoPro Racing | 5:20 |
| 74 | DEBEAUMARCHÉ Nicolas | St Michel-Auber 93 | 7:29 |
| 75 | DE PESTEL Sander | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | 8:01 |
| 76 | LUDVIGSSON Tobias | Groupama-Fdj | 8:24 |
| 77 | MONK Cyrus | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 78 | TRACZ Szymon | Nippo-Provence-Pts Conti | s.t. |