Guts and glory for Tronchon
May 11 th 2025 - 18:04
Tro Bro Leon has long been the preserve of the toughest riders in the peloton, and the 41st edition of the race, held on Sunday, was never going to be an exception. The line-up was deeper than ever, with 8 WorldTeams among the 22 squads on the start line. Absolute pandemonium reigned throughout the succession of 29 ribinoù. In the end, Bastien Tronchon led home a Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale one-two, claiming the northern Finistère classic with Pierre Gautherat at his side. The French duo made their move from 5 km out, just after Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) hit the deck for the second time. The Norwegian had seemed to have it in the bag before taking his first tumble. Tronchon had also had his fair share of bad luck a while earlier. He had been the first real contender to jump from the peloton, accelerating with about 60 km to go, and had caught and overtaken the remnants of the seven-man early breakaway before taking a wrong turn and suffering two punctures. That was it… Or so it seemed. The rider from Savoy left behind the second peloton, which had reeled him in, and made it across to the first one with the assistance of Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa–B&B Hotels), who had also spent time at the front before a flat tyre dashed his hopes. Tronchon, 23, followed up his second place in the Tour du Finistere friday with the second victory of his career, three years after opening his account as a stagiaire with a stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. In his first appearance in the race closest to his heart, the local hero Valentin Madouas (Groupama–FDJ) snatched third place, 19 seconds down, ahead of Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies).
Mad about Madouas
The traditional kig ha farz was working its magic on bellies when the homegrown talent Valentin Madouas (Groupama–FDJ) climbed onto the stage for the team presentation at Lannilis sports hall. Loud cheers filled the air and sent shivers down spines to salute the Olympic silver medallist, who was set to make his debut in the race that holds a special place in his heart. It was all a bit too much for the skies, which had seemed on the verge of tears since the sun peered over the horizon and unleashed a deluge a few minutes before the start at noon. At 12:13 pm, following a 6.6 km neutralisation, 152 warriors clad in raincoats charged onto the waterlogged battlefield.
Van Niekerk for an encore
Morné Van Niekerk (St. Michel–Preference Home–Auber93), who had featured in breakaways in the past three editions (sixth last season) fired the opening salvo, but this time round, the peloton came out like a bat out of hell. Attacks came thick and fast, but nothing stuck. The South African redoubled his efforts with five men in tow, including Clément Izquierdo (Cofidis), very active today, but it was still gruppo compatto at the exit from the first of the 29 ribinoù on the menu, 36 km into the race, in Saint-Renan. In the meantime, two riders had thrown in the towel: Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), who had crashed during the GP de Plumelec the day before, and the young Frenchman Antoine L'Hote (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale), who had gone down inside the first couple of kilometres.
A seven-man breakaway
Seven riders tried their luck at km 39.5 and, at long last, managed to get away. Rudy Molard (Groupama–FDJ), Victor Van de Putte (Lotto), Fabian Lienhard (Tudor), Sergio Meris (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Hugo de la Calle (Burgos Burpellet BH), Axel Mariault (CIC-U-Nantes) and the 2018 Tro Bro Cadets winner, Baptiste Vadic (TotalEnergies), built up a gap of 2′50″ by km 51. The difference peaked at four minutes, with XDS Astana and Arkéa–B&B Hotels leading the chase in the main group.
Puncture for Madouas
Dirt roads as viscous as honey strung out the peloton and whittled it down to about 40 units by the halfway point. Iván García Cortina (Movistar), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), who would go on to crash a few kilometres down the road, and Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana) were among the dropped favourites. Things had calmed down a bit, allowing quite a lot of riders to make the junction, when Valentin Madouas suffered a flat tyre in Ménéham. The Breton was back in the pack in no time thanks to the aid of the Shimano neutral car, but he stopped again to get a wheel from his own team, rejoining the main group before ribin no. 18, after blasting past the Côte des Légendes.
Tronchon takes the gloves off
The six escapees (the original seven minus Molard) were dangling precariously half a minute ahead of the peloton with 63 km to go. Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) rocketed out of the field and caught the three survivors of the breakaway —Lienhard, De la Calle and Meris— 56 km from the line. Back in the bunch, the puncture goblins nibbled at the tyres of the Arkéa–B&B Hotels leaders, Kevin Vauquelin and Clément Venturini, in quick succession. The reigning green jersey of the Tour de France, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty), was long gone by this point.
Cees sees an opening
Tronchon and De La Calle were the only men left at the front for the first pass over the finish line, with 46 km to go, 10 seconds ahead of the counter-attacker Cees Bol (XDS Astana) and 21 clear of the 30-strong peloton. Tronchon went solo from 45 km out. The Frenchman took a wrong turn at the entrance to ribin no. 11, allowing Bol and De la Calle to leapfrog him, but he managed to claw his way back just before the exit from the same sector, the farm sector, where massive crowds lined the roads.
16 men prepare for the denouement
Another counter-attacker, Clément Russo (Groupama–FDJ), crashed after hitting the pavement in a turn. Thirteen riders joined the three-man lead group with 35 km to go: Madouas, Vauquelin, Pierre Gautherat (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale), Lewis Askey (Groupama–FDJ), Vlad Mechelen, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Riley Sheehan (Israel–Premier Tech), Brent Van Moer (Lotto), Anthony Turgis, Florian Dauphin (TotalEnergies), Fredrik Dversnes, Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility), Lucas Eriksson (Tudor) and Hartthijs de Vries (Unibet Tietema Rockets).
Tough break for Vauquelin
De Vries and Tronchon succumbed to punctures too, while a fall took Sheehan down but not out. Wright pounced on an opening, but Madouas caught him with the rest of the group in tow. 22 km from the line, Sheehan's second crash cleared the way for Kevin Vauquelin, the only rider ahead of him at the exit from the turn, but the runner-up in La Flèche Wallonne was not fortunate enough to avoid a rear-tyre puncture and save his escape.
Dversnes crashes twice and Tronchon takes victory
Dversnes was left alone at the front of the race. With just one lap and 13 km to go, the Norwegian had 13 seconds in hand over his erstwhile companions and 35 over Vauquelin and Tronchon, who caught the second group 4 km down the road. The gap rose to half a minute. However, the indefatigable Tronchon, followed by Gautherat, Turgis and Madouas, slashed it in half by the time that the race reached the ribin next to the farm, 7 km out. Dversnes hit the deck shortly afterwards. He was joined by Tronchon and Gautherat with 5.7 km to go, only to take a second tumble at a roundabout. The Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale duo found themselves alone at the front with 5 km to go and never looked back, crossing the finish line together with Tronchon in first place —a well-deserved reward after his incredible tour de force.
