Benoît Cosnefroy
"One of the hardest days I've ever had on the bike".
"I was frozen for the last 80 kilometers and didn't think I'd make it to the finish. It's been a long time since I finished in such a physical state. The team placed me very well at the foot of the last ascent of the Mur de Huy, after which I wanted to manage my climb so as not to regret anything. I'm already happy to have been in the first group, which wasn't easy with the cold rain and snow at times. But now I'm at the end and I'm really cold. It was one of the hardest days I've ever had on the bike.
The news
grueling stage of Tour Alps
The race was also tough in Austria on the Tour Alps, a "dantesque stage" according to Stéphane Goubert. The sports director looks back on this third stage: "Luckily it was only 128 kilometers, the conditions were extreme with rain and a temperature of around three degrees. The team performed well, staying at the front, and at the finish we had three riders the top ten. Tomorrow is the queen stage, starting at a mountain pass before tackling more than 4,000 meters of elevation gain over 141 kilometers of racing."
5
Key number
The number of riders the DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE team in the top 10 in Wednesday 17 April's races. In Tour Alps, Aurélien Paret-Peintre finished fifth in the stage. Ben O'Connor and Valentin Paret-Peintre came in eighth and ninth, respectively. In Belgium, at La Flèche Wallonne, Dorian Godon added to Benoît Cosnefroy's impressive fourth place finish with an eighth place finish at the top of the Mur de Huy.
