Aurélien Paret-Peintre
"A beautiful day
"We had a traditional scenario. The headwind blocked the race a bit, but I got up the bumps quickly. I felt good in La Redoute at the end of the race. But after that climb, I went into a hole and got a puncture. I had to change bike, but I didn't give up in the lead. I did well because I was back in the group with five kilometers to go. After that, the team decided to sprint as best we could. I tried my luck with 250-300 metres to go, I was on a bit of an equal footing with Mathieu Van der Poel at the start and it was a close call at the line. In the end, I came fifth, which was a great day.
Julien Jurdie, Sports Director
"A very satisfactory result for the Ardennes Classics".
"After the successful Flandrian classics, we had an excellent Ardennes campaign with a win at La Flèche Brabançonne, a fifth place at the Amstel Gold Race, a fourth at La Flèche Wallonne and so a fifth today, each time a top 5. We would have liked to add a podium in the last three races, because we're greedy, but the balance is very satisfactory, just like the team has been since the start of the season."
The news
Aubin Sparfel fifth in Eroica Juniores
Aubin Sparfel finished fifth in the Eroica Juniores, a junior Nations Cup event held in Italy, just ahead of Paul Seixas. On the final stage, Seixas finished ninth and Sparfel thirteenth. DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE U19 Team finished as the best team in the competition, while Paul Seixas was the best climber and Théophile Vassal the best young rider.
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The number
Only the DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE team placed three riders in the top 20 at Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Aurélien Paret-Peintre finished fifth, Paul Lapeira eleventh and Benoît Cosnefroy sixteenth. All three were in the third-place group.
