Elia Viviani will look to continue his most recent hot streak at the 34th World Tour event of the season.
Starting and finishing in the town of Plouay, the location of the 2000 Road World Championships, the Bretagne Classic will once again take the riders over a hilly course suited to attackers and puncheurs. Roughly 250 kilometers long, the French race can easily follow a script with many intriguing and spectacular twists, with the presence of the Côte de Ty-Marrec inside the last ten kilometers set to stir things up, as it can be used as launch pad to victory by those keen to avoid a bunch gallop, which has decided the winner on five occasions in the past decade.
Elia Viviani, who has been enjoying a purple patch in the past weeks, winning all three races in which he took part after the Tour de France (RideLondon – Surrey Classic, European Championships and Cyclassics Hamburg) – will lead UCI World Team Classification leader Deceuninck – Quick-Step at the 83rd edition of the race that two years ago landed on his palmares.
One of the most successful sprinters of the last two seasons, with close to 30 victories to his name, Viviani will be joined for Sunday’s World Tour appointment by Dries Devenyns, neo-pro Mikkel Honoré, Luxembourg Champion Bob Jungels, Davide Martinelli, Florian Sénéchal and Petr Vakoč, riders who’ll give our squad several cards to play.
“Bretagne Classic is one of the most difficult races to win, especially since they changed the course a couple of years ago and we have this hilly and narrow up-and-down route. We go there with a very balanced team, comprising experienced riders who can handle the aggressive way of riding and feature in the finale, but also support Elia if it comes down to a bunch gallop, like was the case two years ago”, said sports director Tom Steels.
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