Lewis Askey secures first pro victory with explosive attack in final kilometer at Boucles de l’Aulne

With Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ), Benoit Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and Iván García Cortina (Movistar) among others, the French 1.1 race had a pretty strong starting field. Bahrain Victorious was also present. We were looking for a successor to Axel Zingle, who won last year's Boucles de l'Aulne while riding for Cofidis.

The riders crossed the finish line in Châteaulin thirteen times after several local laps and a total of 183.1 kilometers. Five riders took the lead from the start: Florian Dauphin (TotalEnergies), George Jackson (Burgos Burpellet BH), Victor Papon (Wagner Bazin WB), Axel Narbonne Zuccarelli (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) and Matisse Julien (CIC - U - Nantes). In the opening phase, they gained several minutes' lead over the peloton, with Groupama-FDJ and Cofidis taking control.

We saw a classic race unfold for a long time, with the pack slowly but surely closing the gap to the leaders. However, with 70 kilometers to go on the tough Menez Quelerc'h (1.9 kilometers at 7.1%), Jackson and Narbonne Zuccarelli had to let go. The peloton caught up very quickly on that climb to within 30 seconds of the leaders.

Although there were still more than sixty kilometers to go, this did not prevent the top favorites for the stage win from going full throttle. Madouas accelerated, after which Aranburu joined the Frenchman. Vauquelin was also well positioned, but more riders could join on the descent, resulting in a leading group of eleven riders. The peloton, with Unibet Tietema Rockets leading the chase with Movistar, followed behind for half a minute.

With 57 kilometers to go, Lukas Kubis of Unibet Tietema Rockets made the jump to the leading group with a few others, while the peloton was not far behind. Despite several attacks that followed, the group came back together with 48 kilometers to go—not for long, as the attacks followed in rapid succession.

Noa Isidore (Decathlon AG2R) was the most active in the attack, as the young Frenchman broke away from the peloton several times. With 41 kilometers to go, he was joined by four others, and the five riders opened up a nice gap. Together with Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ), Matis Louvel (Israel-Premier Tech), and Joris Delbove (TotalEnergies), Isidore stayed ahead for a long time.

However, with 24 kilometers to go, it was all over for them, and another very chaotic phase began. Those who hadn't tried gave it a go, but it was almost always unsuccessful. Who else but Isidore would dare to make another attempt, and for a moment he was joined by Riley Sheehan (Israel-Premier Tech) and Ceriel Desal (Wagner Bazin WB), but again it was a futile effort.

When the bell rang, Madouas tried to go solo. The Frenchman gained a lead of under ten seconds but was caught again with five kilometers to go. A larger group would sprint for the victory. After the difficult, steep cobbles, Askey launched his attack and secured his first pro victory.