Soudal Quick-Step’s neo-pro came close to victory at the last French World Tour race of the year.
Paul Magnier finished an incredible runner-up at one of the hardest one-day races of the season, the Bretagne Classic, which this year ran its 88th edition, over a 260km course containing around two dozen climbs.
Soudal Quick-Step’s French neo-pro, who won a total of five races this year with both the World Tour and Devo Team, as well as the points classification at the GiroNextGen, became the youngest rider this century to sit on the podium of the prestigious event held around Plouay after a remarkable display on a day that contained more than 3500 vertical meters.
A race for puncheurs, Bretagne Classic came close to being won by one of the fastest up-and-coming riders in the peloton, in the end just one second separating Paul Magnier from Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates), who attacked with three kilometers to go, barely holding off the chasers on the uphill drag to the line. Behind him, the 20-year-old from Grenoble – who had benefited from the work of his teammates Julian Alaphilippe and Ilan Van Wilder – showed a fantastic turn of speed to beat more seasoned riders and notch up our team’s fourth top-three finish at the French race.
“It’s amazing to be on the podium. Of course, there is some disappointment, because I want to win a race when I enter it, but at the end of the day this is an incredible result, which I wouldn’t have expected at the start. It was the longest race in my career, but I had the confidence of this amazing team, with Julian and Ilan covering a lot of attacks and trying to keep things together. I did my best in the sprint and it’s a great result to be runner-up in front of my home fans and of my parents, who were present on the course today. This podium makes me very proud”, said Paul after his tenth top-three result of the year.
Photo credit: ©Luc Claessen / Getty Images
Paul Magnier 