While the Giro d’Italia goes into the decisive weekend, another big competition also goes into an important phase. Both Saturday and Sunday offer important races in the prestigious Coupe de France series and the GP de Plumelec and Boucles de l’Aulne often mark the return to racing after a break for some of France’s best riders. After Saturday’s race in Plumelec whose uphill finish was tailor-made for punchuers, Sunday’s Boucles de l’Aulne has traditionally suited attackers.

It has become a tradition that the best French riders head to Bretagne for in the final weekend of May to take the next step in their preparation for the Tour de France and the French Championships at the Coupe de France races GP de Plumelec and Boucles de l’Aulne. While the Giro riders have their final battles, a combination of riders that are building condition for La Grande Boucle and the riders vying for overall honours in the Coupe de France battle it out in two of the hardest races in the French series.

The Coupe de France had a very busy time in April where six races were held within three weeks. Since then, there has been a longer break as the attention in France has been focused on stage races with the 4 Days of Dunkirk and the Tour de Picardie. Last week’s GP de la Somme saw a return to one-day racing and this weekend, the attention is fully on the Bretagne where the GP de Plumelec and Boucles de l’Aulne mark the end of the busy first half of the year for the national series.

While Saturday’s race in GP de Plumelec is relatively young, the Boucles de l’Aulne is a historic race that has been held in the city of Chateaulin in most years since the first edition in 1931. In the 30s, it was mostly held as a two-stage race but then returned to its original one-day format. Until 1998, it was a criterium that was held under the name of Circuit de l’Aulne but in 1999 it was added to the UCI calendar as a real road race before it got its current name in 2002. It was part of the Coupe de France from 2000 to 2005 and was again added to the calendar for the series in 2011. Since the current UCI system was introduced in 2005, it has been a 1.1 race.

Due to its iconic finish on the Cote de Cadoudal, the GP de Plumelec may now be the most famous of the two races but the Boucles de l’Aulne has an impressive history and has always been a key event on the French calendar. The list of winners includes riders like Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Francesco Moser, Marc Madiot, Laurent Fignon, Luis Ocana, Joop Zoetemelk, Jacques Anquetil, Raymond Poulidor, Rik van Looy, Luison Bobet, Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, Migul Indurain, Richard Virenque, Laurent Jalabert, Abraham Olano and Marco Pantani which speaks volumes about the prestige it once had. Nowadays, it is a more low-key affair mostly for French riders but as part of the Coupe de France, it is still a very important race for the French teams.

While the GP de Plumelec is usually a controlled race that is decided by the puncheurs in an uphill sprint, the Boucles de l’Aulne is a lot less predictable. The hilly course makes it very selective and not suited to sprinters but the finish is less iconic and less suited to specialists. Hence, a variety of riders can win this race and it is often a strong breakaway that escapes early in the race and goes on to decide the race. The strong sprinters have occasionally had their say – the 2007 and 2010 editions were decided by bigger groups – but in recent years.

Last year an 11-rider group narrowly held off the peloton and Alo Jakin and Steven Tronet made it a fantastic 1-2 for the small Auber 93 team. Laurent Pichon was third.

The course

Like many other Coupe de France races, Boucles de l’Aulne is a circuit race which is held around the city of Chateaulin. At just 168km, it is one of the short races in the race series and it can be split into two parts. The first part consists of six laps of a big 17.2km circuit. It has a rolling first part and then includes the hardest climb of the race around the 10km mark. From there a long descent leads to a short flat secion and the final 500m which are uphill.

The second part of the race consists of 8 laps of a shorter 8.1km circuit. It is basically just the first half of the big circuit, meaning that it is a rolling route with no major climbs. Again the main challenge is the final 500m which are uphill.

The course is the same as the one that was used in 2015.

The favourites

Due to the tricky course, the Boucles de l’Aulne is one of the hardest Coupe de France races to predict. Usually, a strong breakaway goes clear and decides the race after a tough day in the saddle. This means that it requires a bit of luck, both to get into the right move and to play the cards right in what is often a tactical finale.

However, the race has also occasionally come down to a sprint and this year there is a bigger chance that we have such a scenario. Samuel Dumoulin has moved into second in the Coupe de France series and as overall leader Baptiste Planckaert is riding in Belgium, Ag2r may want to capitalize on this opportunity. Today’s win proves that Dumoulin is in great form and the uphill sprint should suit him. Hence, we expect Ag2r to again try to control things and as they have one of the strongest teams here, there is a good chance that they will succeed.

Unfortunately, the official start list has not been released by neither the organizers nor Matsport who are in charge of the timing. Hence, we will base this preview on the limited information that’s available about the line-ups. There may be more candidates for the win than those mentioned below.

As said, we expect it to come down to an uphill sprint and that should suit Dumoulin. The Frenchman has never done very well here but on paper the course should suit him. He is strong in uphill sprints and he has been in great form ever since the middle of April when he won La Roue Tourangelle. Today he claimed to have had better legs than he has had for a very long time and when he has this kind of form, he is hard to beat in a finish like this. With a great team at his side, we predict Dumoulin to make it two in a row.

Like today, FDJ will probably try to make the race hard but they also have options in a sprint finish. Today they did the sprint for Arthur Vichot but tomorrow the easier finale should be more for Kevin Reza. The Frenchman is finally starting to show some form as he did a very good uphill sprint in Picardie. On paper he is one of the fastest here and he will definitely be a strong rival for Dumoulin. If Reza is not up for the challenge, it’s also a good sprint for Vichot but he will probably have a better chance by going on the attack. The in-form Frenchman is likely to be the strongest if he is in the right break.

Matthieu Ladagnous is another sprint candidate for the team and he showed his good form by taking forth in today’s stage. He has been sprinting really well all year and really excels in uphill finishes like this one.

The same goes for Clement Venturini. The cyclo-cross rider has had a bit of a breakthrough season and he is proving to be competitive both on the climbs and in the sprints. He has just finished 12th overall and won the points classification in the very hard Rhone-Alpes Iseres Tour so his form is great. He has been up there in most of the sprints this year and he seems to be one of the fastest French riders. An uphill sprin tat the end of a hard race is perfect for him.

As we had predicted yesterday, the final climb in Plumelec was a bit too hard for Jose Goncalves but the Tour of Turkey winner was still up there. Tomorrow’s easier uphill finish is a lot better for the powerful Portuguese who has proved his strength in uphill sprints like these. He is also brutally strong in this terrain and so could very well be the best from a breakaway.

Today Rudy Barbier abandoned relatively early but that was probably only to save some energy for Sunday’s race. The final climb in Plumelec was always going to be too hard for him but tomorrow’s easier finale should suit him really well as he likes these uphill sprints. He has been up there in most sprints this year and his form is clearly good.

Yannick Martinez is one of the most inconsistent riders in the peloton but now he has finally found some form. Today he placed 20th in a race that was too tough for him and he showed his sprinting skills by taking third in the first stage in Norway. With this solid form, he should be a solid contender for a sprint in Sunday’s race.

Romain Feillu is a former winner of this race but he is no longer the riders he once was. However, he is still one of the best French sprinters, especially at the end of a hard race. He was riding well in Picardie a few weeks ago and he opted not to ride in Plumelec to be ready for this race. He is rarely winning nowadays but he will be very keen to do well here.

If the race doesn’t come down to a sprint, there are a number of riders who can do well on this kind of hilly course. Vichot, Anthony Turgis, Rudy Molard and Delio Fernandez are all strong in this terrain and have a fast sprint to finish it off. Alexis Gougeard is another danger man as he is one of the strongest riders in the field and almost impossible to catch if he makes a solo move.

Arnold Jeannesson, Laurent Pichon, Angel Madrazo, Cyril Gautier, Mikael Cherel, Romain Hardy, Nicolas Edet, Pierrick Fedrigo, Pierre Latour, Erwann Corbell, Quentin Pacher, Thomas Sprengers, Nans Peters, Lilian Calmejane, Garikoitz Bravo, Maxime Vantomme, Luis Angel Mate, Alo Jakin and Anthony Delaplace are also strong in this terrain and most of them have a decent kick on an uphill finishing straight.

***** Samuel Dumoulin

**** Kevin Reza, Clement Venturini

*** Matthieu Ladagnous, Jose Goncalves, Rudy Barbier, Yannick Martinez

** Romain Feillu, Arthur Vichot, Anthony Turgis, Rudy Molard, Alexis Gougeard, Delio Fernandez

* Arnold Jeannesson, Laurent Pichon, Angel Madrazo, Cyril Gautier, Mikael Cherel, Romain Hardy, Nicolas Edet, Pierrick Fedrigo, Pierre Latour, Erwann Corbell, Quentin Pacher, Thomas Sprengers, Nans Peters, Lilian Calmejane, Garikoitz Bravo, Maxime Vantomme, Luis Angel Mate, Alo Jakin, Anthony Delaplace