Cycling: Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) won the Classic de l'Ardèche late Saturday afternoon. The French classification driver was able to pull away with around 25 kilometers to go and couldn't let his pursuers get closer. Second place went to the German Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors), who had already won the Back to the Algarve was able to present in excellent form with seventh place.
[gap height=“15″]
[gap height=“25″]
Two French one-day races over the weekend
The Classic de l'Ardèche, together with the La Drôme Classic taking place tomorrow, belongs to the so-called Boucles du Sud Ardèche. Both events are held by the Ruoms Cyclisme Organization and count as separate one-day races. The starting and finishing point for the hilly circuit race over 200,2 kilometers was the French municipality of Guilherand-Granges. Immediately after the start, five riders broke away from the peloton. The three French Lucas de Rossi (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Yoann Paillot (St Michel-Auber 93) and Jerome Mainard (Roubaix-Lille Metropole) rode with the Canadian Adam deVos (Rally Cycling) and the Italian simone sterbini (Bardiani-CSF) quickly gained a lead of over ten minutes. Finally, some French teams took the lead and gradually reduced the gap.
Bardet against FDJ, Schachmann strong again
Nachdem simone sterbini was traveling as a soloist for a while, the Italian was also provided. Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) took his heart in both hands and attacked with 25km to go. On a climb, he left the competition with open eyes. The FDJ team now had to take over the reins in the peloton. But Bardet fought back. Even as more teams joined in the pursuit, the gap didn't narrow. Finally, a group of seven pursuers broke away on the last climb Maximilian Schachmann, who was able to narrow the gap. But it wasn't nearly enough. Bardet rode safely towards his solo victory. They watched each other behind before Schachmann could free himself from his opponents and take second place. Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) completed the podium.
????????@romainbardet of 🇫🇷@AG2RLMCycling wins @boucles_classic 🇫🇷Faun Environnement-Classic de l'Ardèche Rhône Crussol #BDA2018 pic.twitter.com/3egZjnevCg
— World Cycling Stats (@wcstats) 24. February 2018