The 23rd edition of the one-day classic formerly known as the Grand Prix de Plouay takes place on Saturday 24 August in the Bretagne region of north-west France, and features a familiar route covering almost 2,500m of altitude on a constantly rolling course. Known for its toughness and high attrition rate, the parcours is characteristic of the Breton landscape, with multiple ups and downs throughout the day and barely any flat. The race is often won solo, or from a reduced bunch sprint.
Defending champion Mischa Bredewold of Team SD Worx-ProTime lines up once again this year, and she will be challenged by a strong field of riders from 13 World Tour and eight Continental teams, all seeking glory in the latest round of the Women’s World Tour, many with a Tour de France Femmes in their legs.
The race begins in Plouay and takes in 160.2km, and with a series of punchy climbs and descents, spectators should be treated to an unpredictable, open and attacking race.
Route
Travelling in a circular route beginning and ending in Plouay in, the one-day race features multiple climbs on a route that will be familiar to many. The race begins with a loop around Plouay, with first climb starting almost immediately, meaning that the riders will have to be switched on from flag drop. The Côte du Lézot is a one-kilometre climb with an average gradient of 6%, which will likely see attacks for the day’s early break. From there, the race heads south, completing a number of loops heading east, including a series of tricky short, punchy climbs, before the route turns west and returns for Plouay to complete three more laps of the area, including two climbs, the Côte du Lézot and the Côte de Ty Marrec. From the final ascent, there is a three kilometre downhill run-in to the finish line, where it’s likely that a small bunch will contest the finish, as a high number of riders are likely to be dropped along the way on this highly challenging route.
Riders to watch (GC)
The strongest team on paper is Lidl-Trek. The American side bring a team of hitters, with riders capable of performing in any race scenario. Elisa Longo Borghini returns to the side following the training crash which kept her out of the Tour de France Femmes, and will likely lead if she is feeling fully recovered.
While returning champion Mischa Bredewold brings a strong Team SD Worx-ProTime support squad with her, she has just spent eight days supporting Demi Vollering’s GC campaign at the Tour de France Femmes, so her performance, like many others at the race, will depend greatly on her recovery in the intervening six days.
One of the favourites coming into the race following an incredible performance at the Tour is Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling’s Cédrine Kerbaol. Local to the area, the Breton rider won a stage at the Tour and displayed her superior descending skills, which she will be able to use to her advantage in Plouay, a race whose roads will be very familiar to her.
Canyon//SRAM will look to Chloe Dygert to make the most of the opportunity to shine, following her taking up domestique duties for Kasia Niewiadoma at the Tour. For FDJ-SUEZ, Amber Kraak may hope to go long, and for Liv AlUla Jayco, Letizia Paternoster and Ingvild Gåskjenn could both perform well, following strong spring Classics seasons.
AG Insurance-Soudal had an excellent Tour de France Femmes, and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio returns for them, alongside Kim Le Court, who will hope to bounce back following a crash at the Tour. UAE Team ADQ will hope that Karlijn Swinkels can show her best – a bold, attacking rider, Swinkels could be one to watch.
Five of the six riders of Movistar have just completed the Tour de France Femmes, and of their number, Olivia Baril and Liane Lippert may be the best hopes for victory, though Arlenis Sierra coming in with fresh legs might challenge should she be able to stay with the bunch on the climbs.
EF-Oatly-Cannondale may have relied on Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner to lead the team, but she is likely to be fatigued following her efforts at in Paris and at the Tour. Kim Cadzow returns and could be a strong option for the team. Audrey Cordon-Ragot will hope to put in a strong performance for Human Powered Health – her teammate Ruth Edwards may also feature – and in the absence of Pfeiffer Georgi who was due to lead the team, but crashed at the Tour de France Femmes, Franziska Koch may be the chosen woman for Team dsm-firmenich PostNL.
Outsiders to keep an eye on include Arkea-B&B Hotels’ Valentina Cavallar and Maeva Squiban, both of whom had stand-out rides at the Tour de France Femmes, Volkerwessels’ Eline Janssen, and Victorie Berteau of Cofidis.
Riders to watch (GC)
5-stars Elisa Longo Borghini, Cédrine Kerbaol
4-stars Letizia Paternoster, Mischa Bredewold
3-stars Kim Le Court, Liane Lippert, Kristen Faulkner
2-stars Karlijn Swinkels, Kim Cadzow, Amber Kraak
1-star Franziska Koch, Olivia Baril, Ingvild Gåskjenn
Summary
When – Saturday 24 August
Where – Bretagne, France
What – One-day Classic
TV Coverage: Eurosport, Discovery+
