2016 GP de Fourmies-Le Voix du Nord (HC), France
84th edition: Sunday, September 4, 2016
GP de Fourmies podium history | 2015 edition | 2017 edition
Fourmies - Fourmies, 205 km
Marcel Kittel wins another one...
The Race: Here's what winner Marcel Kittel's Etixx-Quick Step team had to report.
Etixx – Quick-Step's perfect week-end continued in France, where Marcel Kittel stormed to his 12th victory of the season.
Marcel Kittel returned to winning ways, one day after helping Tom Boonen take the honors in Brussels Cycling Classic, by roaring over the line victorious in the Grand Prix de Fourmies, one of the most important races in the Coupe de France calendar. Following a flawless display of his Etixx – Quick-Step teammates, who controlled the breakaway and made sure of setting him up for the final kilometer, the 28-year-old defeated two home riders, Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie), for his 12th success of 2016, a year which saw Marcel celebrate wins across six different countries.
Held for the first time in 1928, the GP de Fourmies was won by such riders as Jean Stablinski or Eddy Merckx, and continues to attract each year at the start some of the sport's biggest names. On Sunday, the peloton lined out in the north of France for a 205-km long challenging race, which was set to take the riders over a hilly terrain suitable to attackers, whose chances of taking the win increased with the rain that made the day an even more complicated one.
The day's breakaway consisted of five men, who had a maximum advantage which didn't exceed five minutes. In the final 50 kilometers, the gap went tumbling down, as the sprinters' teams were determined not to miss this chance, and the adventure of the quintet came to an end with less than 15 kilometers to go. The sprint was a highly contested one, but supported by a great Etixx – Quick-Step squad – who drilled the pace and handily placed him at the front – Marcel Kittel rolled across the line first, out-kicking all his opponents.
"It was another hard day in the saddle, with harsh weather conditions and a tough course, and that's what makes this victory even more special. Racing twice in a week-end isn't easy, but I'm content with how things have panned out for me and the team, with two victories", Marcel Kittel said following his 12th win of the year. "After working for Tom yesterday, today it was my turn to go for the sprint and everything worked out as planned. The team was great and I must thank the guys for their help! I jumped early in the sprint, but was able to keep the power and this brings me much satisfaction. My confidence is strong, the shape is there and I'm getting better and better with every race I do. This shows that I'm ready for the final part of the season."
Complete Results:
205 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.629 km/hr
| 1 | Marcel Kittel | Etixx-Quick Step | 4hr 48min 32sec |
| 2 | Nacer Bouhanni | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 3 | Bryan Coquard | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 4 | Romain Feillu | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 5 | Manuel Belletti | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 6 | Arnaud Démare | FDJ | s.t. |
| 7 | Amaury Capiot | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 8 | Sam Bennett | Bora-Argon 18 | s.t. |
| 9 | Samuel Dumoulin | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 10 | Baptiste Planckaert | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 11 | Raymond Kreder | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 12 | Alo Jakin | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 13 | Julien Duval | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 14 | Ruslan Tleubayev | Astana | s.t. |
| 15 | Evaldas Šiškevicius | Delko Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 16 | Rudy Barbier | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 17 | Roman Maykin | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 18 | Steven Tronet | Fortuneo Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 19 | Igor Boev | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 20 | Nicolas Marini | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 21 | Gerry Druyts | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 22 | Adrien Petit | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 23 | Sacha Modolo | Lampre-Merida | s.t. |
| 24 | Roberto Ferrari | Lampre-Merida | s.t. |
| 25 | Fabian Wegmann | Stölting | s.t. |
| 26 | Jenthe Biermans | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 27 | Benjamin Thomas | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 28 | Ludwig De Winter | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 29 | Guillaume Levarlet | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 30 | Benjamin Giraud | Delko Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 31 | Michel Kreder | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 32 | Etienne van Empel | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 33 | Damien Touzé | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 34 | Andrea Fedi | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 35 | Thomas Sprengers | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 36 | Miles Scotson | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 37 | Mikaël Chérel | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 38 | Stéphane Poulhiès | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 39 | Matej Mohoric | Lampre-Merida | s.t. |
| 40 | Julian Alaphilippe | Etixx-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 41 | Reinier Honig | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 42 | David Boucher | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 43 | Artur Ershov | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 44 | Tom Boonen | Etixx-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 45 | Arman Kamyshev | Astana | s.t. |
| 46 | Anthony Maldonado | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 47 | Jakub Mareczko | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 48 | Antwan Tolhoek | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 49 | Sander Helven | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 50 | Jimmy Turgis | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 51 | Grega Bole | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 52 | Anthony Delaplace | Fortuneo Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 53 | Sylvain Chavanel | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 54 | Liam Bertazzo | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 55 | Florian Vachon | Fortuneo Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 56 | Stijn Vandenbergh | Etixx-Quick Step | @ 13sec |
| 57 | Rafael Andriato | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 58 | Alexandr Kolobnev | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 59 | Damiano Cunego | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 60 | Marco Minnaard | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 61 | Lars Boom | Astana | s.t. |
| 62 | Fabio Aru | Astana | s.t. |
| 63 | Alexandre Pichot | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 64 | Leonardo Duque | Delko Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 65 | Thomas Degand | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 66 | Laurens De Vreese | Astana | s.t. |
| 67 | Dieter Bouvry | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 68 | Alexander Geuens | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 69 | Laurens De Plus | Etixx-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 70 | Floris De Tier | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 71 | Daniel Hoelgård | FDJ | s.t. |
| 72 | Julien El Farès | Delko Marseille Provence | s.t. |
| 73 | Iuri Filosi | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 74 | Hubert Dupont | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 75 | Rui Costa | Lampre-Merida | s.t. |
| 76 | Preben Van Hecke | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 77 | Gregory Habeaux | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 78 | Simone Antonini | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 79 | Julien Stassen | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 80 | Romain Le Roux | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 81 | Aimé De Gendt | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 82 | Matteo Trentin | Etixx-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 83 | Andrei Solomennikov | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 84 | Filippo Pozzato | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 85 | Gaetan Bille | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 86 | Guillaume Bonnafond | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 87 | Lennard Kämna | Stölting | s.t. |
| 88 | Flavien Dassonville | HP BTP-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 89 | Yonder Godoy | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | s.t. |
| 90 | Michael Van Staeyen | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 91 | Christophe Laporte | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 92 | Yohann Gène | Direct Energie | s.t. |
| 93 | Lukas Pöstlberger | Bora-Argon 18 | s.t. |
| 94 | Matteo Busato | Wilier Triestina-Southeast | +31'' |
| 95 | Arnaud Gérard | Fortuneo Vital Concept | +33'' |
| 96 | Romain Bardet | Ag2r | +34'' |
| 97 | Marc Sarreau | FDJ | +36'' |
| 98 | Ignatas Konovalovas | FDJ | s.t. |
| 99 | Pieter Jacobs | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | s.t. |
| 100 | Petr Vakoc | Etixx-Quick Step | s.t. |
| 101 | Borut Božic | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 102 | Johnny Hoogerland | Roompot Oranje Peloton | +39'' |
| 103 | Moreno De Pauw | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 104 | Jan Bárta | Bora-Argon 18 | s.t. |
| 105 | Kai Reus | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 106 | Jean-Marc Bideau | Fortuneo Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 107 | Paul Voß | Bora-Argon 18 | s.t. |
| 108 | Maurits Lammertink | Roompot Oranje Peloton | s.t. |
| 109 | Boris Dron | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 110 | Dimitri Claeys | Wanty-Groupe Gobert | s.t. |
| 111 | Kevyn Ista | Wallonie Bruxelles | +46'' |
| 112 | Andreas Schillinger | Bora-Argon 18 | +57'' |
| 113 | Thierry Hupond | Delko Marseille Provence | +1' 10'' |
| 114 | Hugo Hofstetter | Cofidis | +1' 25'' |
| 115 | Marko Kump | Lampre-Merida | +1' 41'' |
| 116 | Geoffrey Soupe | Cofidis | +2' 04'' |
| 117 | Jérémy Leveau | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 118 | Olivier Pardini | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 119 | Cédric Pineau | FDJ | s.t. |
| 120 | Dennis Coenen | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | +2' 24'' |
| 121 | Nicolas Edet | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 122 | Gianfranco Zilioli | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 123 | Eduard Michael Grosu | Nippo-Vini Fantini | s.t. |
| 124 | Félix Pouilly | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 125 | Elie Gesbert | Fortuneo Vital Concept | s.t. |
| 126 | Jimmy Raibaud | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 127 | Thomas Deruette | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 128 | Louis Verhelst | Roubaix Metropole | s.t. |
| 129 | Jonathan Dufrasne | Wallonie Bruxelles | s.t. |
| 130 | Andriy Grivko | Astana | s.t. |
| 131 | Alexey Lutsenko | Astana | s.t. |
| 132 | Jonas Tenbrock | Stölting | s.t. |
| 133 | Gert Jõeäär | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 134 | Thomas Koep | Stölting | s.t. |
| 135 | Oliviero Troia | Lampre-Merida | s.t. |
| 136 | Nico Denz | Ag2r | s.t. |
| 137 | Sergey Nikolaev | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 138 | Kevin Lebreton | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 139 | Alexis Bodiot | Armée de Terre | s.t. |
| 140 | Jens Wallays | Topsport Vlaanderen | s.t. |
| 141 | Evgeniy Shalunov | Gazprom-RusVelo | s.t. |
| 142 | Timothy Stevens | Crelan-Vastgoedservice | +4' 16'' |
| 143 | Nicolas Moncomble | Roubaix Metropole | +5' 20'' |
| 144 | Bryan Alaphilippe | Armée de Terre | +6' 43'' |