French sensation Prodhomme does it again: six (!) wins this season after triumph in La Polynormande

La Polynormande is known as a brutal one-day race in, you guessed it, Normandy. In this northern province of France, the road is basically nothing but uphill and downhill, and this race is no exception: the climbs are short but come in rapid succession—a perfect course for a strong puncheur like Paul Lapeira. The Frenchman from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale won last year's race and was back again this year.

A breakaway of three riders, including Owen Geleijn from Unibet Tietema Rockets, was given little room to manoeuvre. After about 60 kilometres, they were caught, and the action began. An elite group of eleven riders formed, including Lapeira. The defending champion was joined by teammate Noa Isidore, along with Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Anthony Delaplace, Louis Rouland (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), and Alexandre Delettre (TotalEnergies).

A strong leading group, including the defending champion: you shouldn't give them too much space, if possible. But with 75 kilometers to go, the gap was already 1.15 minutes. Unibet Tietema Rockets had no one with them, so they decided to up the pace considerably. The peloton thinned out considerably, and with 50 kilometers to go, the pack was tightly packed. Then, however, the final battle erupted in the front group. Decathlon AG2R lit the fuse with an attack by Isidore.

But a crash ended his chance to stay ahead. He was able to rejoin the leading group, which had pulled away again. After a nervous phase, the breakaway riders were caught, but five new names managed to break away, including Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R), Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa), and Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies). Nicolas Breuillard (St Michel - Auber 93) and Axel Mariault (CIC - U - Nantes) were also there: a French affair.

The five worked well together, and in the peloton, few teams could do anything. It looked like it was going to be one for the leaders. With 9 kilometers to go, Prodhomme attacked. The Frenchman had already won five races and seemed to have found his form. He immediately opened up a nice gap: there was no response. Prodhomme was able to maintain his lead of about 15 seconds and took his sixth victory of the season.