Paul Lapeira
"I had been dreaming of this title for several months".
"It's incredible, I've been dreaming of this title for several months. There are two worlds between dreaming and actually doing it, but the team ran the perfect race, there wasn't a false step. On a personal note, I wanted to run a little bit away from the big names who could be mentioned as favourites. That's what I did, and I found myself with Nicolas Prodhomme in the final. He did a great job and I was able to make it to the finish, so that's great. It's a finish I know by heart, and I could have done it with my eyes closed. I knew how to manoeuvre and when Julien Bernard launched at 500 m, I had to make an effort to come back because he was so strong. But once I was back, I knew I couldn't get away.
Vincent Lavenu
"We work all year for it".
"We've been waiting seventeen years for this title. We've had it twice in thirty-two years, so it's very rare. It's a pretty incredible moment because we know we'll be wearing the French colors for a year. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge, but we also knew we had a very strong team. The plan, which was perfectly written by the sporting director Julien Jurdie and Stéphane Goubert, was followed to the letter. We had someone up front right from the start, so we never panicked. We were in control of our situation, we rode behind all the time and the plan, as we unfolded it, was a success. It's a really good moment in our career, and we work all year for it."
The news
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen King of Denmark
Rasmus Søjberg Pedersen, rider the DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE Development team, became Danish road race champion this afternoon. He beat Kasper Asgreen (stage winner in the Tour France and Tour Flanders), Michael Valgren (winner of the Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad), Magnus Cort Nielsen (stage winner in all three Grand Tours), and Mads Pedersen (world champion, two-time winner of Gent-Wevelgem, and two-time stage winner in the Tour France).
3
Key number
Three riders the team finished in the top 10 of the French Championships road race. In addition to Paul Lapeira's title, Benoît Cosnefroy finished seventh and Pierre Gautherat ninth.
