Search our site:

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Grand Prix du Morbihan podium history | Course map | Start list | 2021 edition | 2023 edition

Grand Champ - Grand Champ, 185.4 km. The start/finish city of Grand-Champ is on the southern coast of the Brittany peninsula.

Julien Simon wins the 45th GP du Morbihan

Les Woodland's book Tour de France: The Inside Story - Making the World's Greatest Bicycle Race is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Grand-Champ at 2:25 PM, local time: 24C (76F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the south-east at 16 km/hr (10 mph). There is a 6% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from second-place Alexander Kristoff's Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team.

Alexander Kristoff obtained his eighth podium of the season in the Grand Prix Morbihan (1.Pro) which was organized on the circuit around Grand-Champ this Saturday.

Thanks to impressive teamwork, the Norwegian rider battled for the victory on the final uphill kilometer (4%)

Even though the early breakaway was caught relatively far from the finish line thanks to the work of Kévin Van Melsen and Corné Van Kessel, two other attackers resisted the peloton for a long time.

The dedication of neo-pro Hugo Page then enabled the bunch to close the 30 second gap to the duo in the approach to the final 10 kilometers.

Dimitri Claeys and Baptiste Planckaert launched Kristoff, who was only defeated by Julien Simon. The Frenchman anticipated the sprint with an attack 500 meters before the finish and resisted the powerful return of the Norwegian rider.

“I'm happy that I could sprint for the victory and reward the efforts of my teammates. All eyes we're on us, they did an admirable job all day long. It was a difficult final for my characteristics and with this new podium finish, I made the best of it. Julien Simon benefitted well from the final 1.5 uphill kilometers to anticipate the sprint, because he attacked before I felt ready to start my final effort.

"Most of the riders of our roster returned to competition after a training period and we've already shown that we're ready to pursue our good performances of the spring. Our eyes are on a next victory and if you ask my, I'd prefer to take it sooner than later. I'm looking forward to my first participation to the Tro Bro Léon this Sunday, my only experience on unpaved roads are the plugstreets in Ghent-Wevelgem and the gravel sections of the GP de Plouay. Our line up contains a former winner and experienced riders, so I'll line up in the best conditions!” - Alexander Kristoff

Complete results:

185.4 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.983 km/hr

Course map:

Course map

Start list with back numbers, May 13, 2022: