The Motorpoint boys enjoyed mixed fortunes last week in the Mi-Août en Bretagne.
After their success in Spain in La Vuelta Leon, the guys came back to earth with a bang, albeit in Team GB colours, during the four day race through some of Northern France’s most picture postcard scenery.
The first stage from Plouec du Trieux – Pontrieux (170km) was pretty much one to forget with James Sampson the highest placed rider – coming in 40th –10 minutes down in the GC. He was followed by Pete Williams (75th); Ian Bibby (90th); Jonny McEvoy (95th) and Andy Tennant (101th). Steve Burke pulled out of the race.
Folllowing team’s managers Keith Lambert frank assessment of their efforts that night, the guys performed much better the next day with Ian Bibby coming in 23rd on the second stage in and around Poullaouen (175km) followed by Pete Williams (43rd); Andy Tennant (45th), James Sampson (61st) and Jonny McEvoy (106th) – some six minutes down on the stage winner Maxime Renault from France.
The riders went one better on the third stage between Pont Scorff – Quéven-Gestel-Cléguer (180km) with Jonny crossing the line 7th and the others all coming inside the top 55. Sadly, Ian Bibby didn’t finish the day. Jonny was also in good form on the final day around Guerlesquin (175km) finishing 22nd.
Although they didn’t enjoy any podium finishes, the organisers were impressed enough with the team’s performance to invite them to participate next year.
Says Keith: “The last couple of weeks have been really good for the guys. They’ve been riding a lot of crits of late and as a result have lost a lot of their race conditioning. The Vuelta and then Mi-Août really helped them get back up to speed just in time for the Tour of Britain.
“Spain was particularly tough because of the heat with the temperature ranging from 30-35 ºC every day. Ed did particularly well, especially on the climbs. That’s not his strength but he did fantastically to get over the hills and still be in a position to put in a good finish. He’s not used to that so too put in that kind of performance day in, day out, was very encouraging. Mind you it told on him, which is why he decided to go home and recover rather than race in France. His performance over the five days bodes well for us in the Tour of Britain. Although he’s not likely to be an overall contender for the Tour the form he showed means a stage victory is well within his reach.”
