Cosnefroy wins the GP Morbihan for the third year running with dominant display

The GP Morbihan has been won by Benoît Cosnefroy. The Frenchman from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was the strongest in an uphill sprint and claimed his third consecutive victory in the French one-day race. Noa Isidore (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished second, with teammate Paul Lapeira third.

While racing in Italy and Spain was in full swing, France had plenty of its own action this weekend. Saturday brought the GP Morbihan, a one-day race in Brittany. And Brittany, of course, means anything but flat roads. The Côte de Cadoudal would be the race's judge and jury, with no fewer than eleven passages over the climb and the finish at its summit — 1.4 kilometres at 5.6%.

Last year Cosnefroy was the strongest winner, as he had been in 2024 too. He was back again this time. The competition was stiff, however, with Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Clément Venturini (Unibet Rose Rockets) among those to watch. An early three-man breakaway quickly built a lead but was never given much rope.

Once the finale arrived and the passages over the Côte de Cadoudal began coming thick and fast, the gap shrank steadily. The climbing metres piled up, but the climb itself was not especially demanding, meaning a large peloton was still together with around thirty kilometres to go. Two riders remained at the front: Jean-Loup Fayolle (CIC Pro Cycling Academy) and Max Nielsen (Lucky Sport).

They were caught quickly, and then the attacks began. First it was Daniel Cavia (Burgos BH Burpellet), but a second group soon made contact. They were given no room, however — UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been riding on the front effectively all day for their leader Cosnefroy. Another solo rider tried his luck: this time it was Simen Evertsen-Hegreberg of Lucky Sport.

But the Norwegian never gained more than 15 seconds, and was reeled in inside the final ten kilometres. The stage was set for the uphill sprint — and UAE Team Emirates-XRG executed it perfectly. Cosnefroy was able to go early, and nobody came over the top of him. Isidore was second and Lapeira third, but Cosnefroy was the undisputed king of the Cadoudal for a third year running.