Preview Bretagne Classic 2025 | France hosts star-studded start list

A glance at the list of winners of the Bretagne Classic reveals a wide range of riders. On the one hand, there are fast men such as Elia Viviani and Alexander Kristoff, but punchy types such as Benoit Cosnefroy and Valentin Madouas have also won the one-day race. In between, we see typical Flandriens such as Sep Vanmarcke, Oliver Naesen (twice), and also Wout van Aert.

Last season, the victory went to Marc Hirschi, who just managed to stay ahead of the sprinting peloton, including Paul Magnier, Magnus Cort, Arnaud De Lie, and Thibau Nys.

2024 Marc Hirschi
2023 Valentin Madouas
2022Woutvan Aert
2021 Benoit Cosnefroy
2020 Michael Matthews
2019 Sep Vanmarcke
2018 Oliver Naesen
2017 Elia Viviani
2016 Oliver Naesen
2015 Alexander Kristoff

The Bretagne Classic - Ouest France has become a fixture in the annual WorldTour circuit under various names over the years. The interesting thing about this race is that the type of winner does not always match the number of meters of elevation gain that must be covered. This year, there are 4,350 meters of elevation gain in total, yet men such as Alexander Kristoff and Elia Viviani are among the recent winners.

This year, the course is unlikely to be any different, although in recent years it has leaned more towards the better climbers. From start to finish, it goes up and down through the Breton countryside, home to cycling heroes such as Bernard Hinault and Warren Barguil.

The course has undergone significant changes, as the well-known local lap in Plouay is no longer included in this edition, and there is substantially more climbing in the first half. As a result, we are likely to see new decisive climbs, with the Marta (0.9 km at 8.4%), Kerscoulan (1.5 km at 4.3%), and Lezot (0.8 km at 5.3%) in the last thirty kilometers. But it is still Brittany, where there is not a single flat meter...

Times
Start: 10:55 AM local time (05:55 AM EDT)
Finish: 4:56 PM local time (10:56 PM EDT)

What an incredibly strong field of participants they have managed to assemble in western France. Despite the more challenging course, we still see riders of all types descending on Brittany: climbers, punchers, baroudeurs, and sprinters; they are all there. But... who is still in good shape and, above all, motivated?

We put our questions to defending champion Marc Hirschi and his Tudor teammate Julian Alaphilippe, whom we haven't seen much of this year. Number 2 in 2024, Paul Magnier, on the other hand, is a man we should definitely keep an eye on Sunday as the leader of Soudal Quick-Step.

UAE Emirates-XRG, on the other hand, is fielding a team that could make it an Ardennes classic. Tim Wellens, Isaac del Toro, Jan Christen, Jhonatan Narváez, Brandon McNulty, and Pavel Sivakov will all be there in Plouay. Visma | Lease a Bike also has a strong team, with Wout van Aert, Tiesj Benoot, and Olav Kooij. As with Jonathan Milan, for example, it remains to be seen whether this race will be too challenging for Kooij.

Wellens is one of the riders from the Renewi Tour, as is the winner Arnaud De Lie from Lotto. They are certainly not the only ones: Thibau Nys, Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Maxim Van Gils, Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Vincenzo Albanese (EF), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) were also in action in their home countries last week.

The French teams will, of course, also be coming to Plouay with their knives between their teeth. Groupama-FDJ is bringing Romain Grégroire, Lewis Askey, Paul Penhoët, and former winner Valentin Madouas, while Decathlon AG2R is counting on Paul Lapeira, Nicolas Prodhomme, Dorian Godon, and Aurélien Paret-Peintre, among others. Cofidis (Alex Aranburu), TotalEnergies (Emilien Jeannière and Anthony Turgis), and Arkéa (Luca Mozzato) will be hoping for a more closely contested race.

Are there other riders who should be able to compete? Simone Velasco, Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana), Pello Bilbao, Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Tobias Halland Johannesen (Uno-X), Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic PostNL), men in form Rhiley Sheehan, Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), and Visma | Lease a Bike acquisition Filippo Fiorelli from VF Group-Bardiani. We repeat: what a starting field!

Top favorites: Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto)
Outsiders: Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Isaac del Toro, Tim Wellens (UAE Emirates-XRG), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
Long shots: Marc Hirschi, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor), Jhonatan Narváez, Jan Christen (UAE Emirates-XRG), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Alberto Bettiol (XDS-Astana), Axel Laurance (INEOS Grenadiers), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X) and Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike)

The Bretagne Classic can be followed on Sunday via HBO Max, as Eurosport 1 will be giving preference to the MTB World Cup in Les Gets and the Vuelta.