Arnaud De Lie claimed the Bretagne Classic 2025. The Belgian from Lotto capitalized on Olav Kooij’s early sprint launch. A kilometer earlier, it didn’t seem likely that the win would be decided by a large group sprint. A strong lead group of four was caught due to disagreements just as they entered the final thousand meters.
The race covered a 262-kilometer course featuring nearly 4,400 meters of elevation gain. The finale began 90 kilometers from the finish with the Ty Coz climb (2.3 km at 5.4%). This was followed by a narrow, hilly, and winding approach to the final phase. The revamped finish around Plouay was shaped by the Côte de Marta (1 km at 7.8%), Côte de Kerscoulan (1.5 km at 4.3%), and Côte de Lezot (700 meters at 5.1%). From there, it was about four kilometers to the finish line.
The day's breakaway consisted of five riders. Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) were joined by three Spaniards: Óscar Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Iker Mintegi, and Andoni López de Abetxuko (both Euskaltel-Euskadi). Behind them, teams including Lotto, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, and Tudor led the chase. The leaders' advantage hovered around four minutes for a long time.
A lot of that advantage was cut down with 100 kilometers to go, partly because the favorite UAE Emirates XRG team took turns at the front. Thanks to a surge from Isaac Del Toro in the hilly section near Ty Coz, the breakaway was reeled in early. The next rider to break away from the peloton was Kasper Asgreen, who opened a gap of about one and a half minutes.
In the penultimate phase, UAE Emirates XRG’s star lineup pushed hard again. Tim Wellens, among others, sacrificed his own chances to bring the peloton back to Asgreen. The Danish rider from EF Education-EasyPost saw his lead shrink quickly and was caught 35 kilometers from the finish. Approaching the Côte de Marta, where the final climbing zone began, nerves rose in the peloton. This led to a painful crash that took down several riders from VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Otto Vergaerde (Lotto).
Finale opened up on Côte de Marta
On the feared Côte de Marta, the pace was fierce, but Pello Bilbao refused to be held back: the Basque from Bahrain-Victorious accelerated. Although he could not create a gap, his acceleration—and the attack attempts that followed in subsequent kilometers—caused splits in the elongated peloton. Meanwhile, Bilbao remained near the front but slid out in a sharp turn. Fortunately, he was able to continue quickly.
UAE Emirates XRG was frequently visible at the front of the peloton - photo: Cor Vos
This hectic phase led to the separation of a strong lead group. Among them were Brandon McNulty, Quinten Hermans, and Aleksandr Vlasov. Unfortunately for the group of eight, they were quickly caught again by a continuous wave of counterattacks from the chasing peloton. After this successive regrouping, Valentin Madouas sensed his opportunity. The Frenchman from Groupama-FDJ created a gap and took advantage of hesitation in the large chasing pack.
Counterattacks join up
Meanwhile, several counterattacks were brewing. Ion Izagirre's attempt failed, but a strong trio managed to bridge up to the French leader with 8 kilometers remaining. They were Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Louis Barré (Intermarché-Wanty), and McNulty (UAE Emirates XRG). Initially, McNulty was reluctant to take turns, but once he realized the chasing peloton was already half a minute behind, he changed his mind.
So there was a brief moment of cooperation at the front, though Barré wasn’t satisfied with that. The Frenchman from Intermarché-Wanty wanted to go solo. Unfortunately for him, his breakaway companions didn’t allow that. McNulty was the one who ensured a regrouping up front. But the peloton was not standing still either; in the background, riders like Tiesj Benoot and Julian Alaphilippe tried to shake things up.
Still a sprint
The battle between the leaders and the attacking moves in the peloton resulted in a full regrouping entering the final kilometer. Thus, the win would be decided in a sprint. But which fast men remained after such a hectic finale? Surprisingly, Olav Kooij and Arnaud De Lie were still near the front of the peloton. Especially the Dutchman from Visma | Lease a Bike had struggled several times during the tough race.
Kooij couldn’t contain his enthusiasm in the final kilometer and started his sprint from far out. De Lie took advantage of this move and easily overtook him in the last hundred meters. For the Walloon sprinter, this is another victory at the highest level. Earlier this month, De Lie also won the final stage and overall classification of the Renewi Tour ahead of Mathieu van der Poel. Emilien Jeanniere managed to pass Kooij in the closing meters, while Paul Magnier sprinted to fourth place.
Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 06:21:23 | |
| 2 | " | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | " | |
| 5 | " | |
| 6 | " | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | " |
