French women’s road championship – Audrey Cordon-Ragot crowned, two days after her title on the clock

For the last place on the box, Noémie Abgrall (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime), breakaway since kilometer 11, thwarted the forecasts, and knocked out of the podium the overpowered collective FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope. With this double, Cordon-Ragot joins Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in history, the last runner to date to have won both titles in the same year, in 2014.

Cordon-Ragot has counted his blows

Character is a common denominator in the DNA of champions. That’s good, Audrey Cordon-Ragot is overflowing with it. Reassured by her form after her sixth title on the time trial on Thursday, the Breton thwarted the forecasts, and twisted the tactical blows of French formations in numerical superiority. The native of Pontivy first hid in the wheels, curbing her offensive temperament, despite the anticipation of Jade Wiel (FDJ-Nouvelle Aquitaine-Futuroscope), in the lead in a two-round quintet of the arrival. On a breakneck and urban route carved into the winding roads of Maine-et-Loire, the only representative of the Trek-Segafredo has patiently bided its time.

While Cofidis roared in pursuit of the leading women, Cordon-Ragot followed the first banners of the favorites, signed Juliette Labous (DSM) and Aude Biannic (Movistar), before surprising her world in a less steep part and more irregular. With Eugénie Duval (FDJ) and Gladys Verhulst (Le Col-Wahoo) on her luggage rack, the 2020 French champion made the connection with the lead 25 km from the end. Wiel’s anticipation came to nothing, resumed at the start of the last lap, like an FDJ team missed in the final, despite the presence of two riders in a group of eight.

The FDJ fiasco

Volunteer, Cordon-Ragot launched the hostilities at the foot of the Séguinière, the main difficulty of the course, with a passage at 10%. But nothing enough to let go of the rest of the breakaways. It finally took the help of Gladys Verhulst, double vice-champion of France (2018, 2020) to explode the Duval-Wiel duo. Despite some hesitation, the final approaching, the leading duo played the victory, with a winning sprint from the Breton.

The latter does the double, a first for eight years and that of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Beaten, La Normande Verhulst still signs a fourth podium in the event. Finally, to complete the fiasco of the FDJ, Noémie Abgrall, breakaway since kilometer 11, grilled politeness for third place, leaving Eugénie Duval to be satisfied with a fifth position. A real snub for a team that has won three of the last five titles before the start.