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. First up is Saturday’s race in Plumelec whose uphill finish is tailor-made for punchuers.

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.

GP de Plumelec is the first of the two races and is a race tailor-made for puncheurs. It was first held in 1974 under the name of Grand Prix de Plumelec and has only been canceled in 1979, 1989 and 2005 for budgetary reasons. Since the current UCI system was introduced in 2005, it has been a 1.1 race and it has been part of the Coupe de France series too. In 1990, it was renamed “A Travers de Morbihan” but since 2006, it has had its current name, Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan.

The race is one of the most iconic on the Coupe de France calendar as it finishes at the top of the famouse Cote de Cadoudal which averages 6.5% over 1800m.. That climb was also made even more famous in 29185 when Bernard Hinault won the Tour de France prologue here and when it was used for the first stage of the 2008 Tour de France where Alejandro Valverde rode himself into yellow by winning the stage. La Grande Boucle returned to the climb in 2015 as the team time trial finished at the top of the climb.

The fact that the race at the top of the short, steep climb is reflected in the list of winners. It is dominated by puncheurs who find the punchy, explosive finish to their liking. Hence, it is a big goal for some of the best uphill sprinters in the business and this has often made the race relatively controlled before they have battled it out on the climb. In the last four years, Julien Simon has won twice and Samuel Dumoulin and Alexis Vuillermoz have both won once. Last year it was Vuillermoz who came out on top ahead of Simon (who has been on the podium every year since 2012) and Pierrick Fedrigo.

The course

As said, it is the Cote de Cadoudal (1800m, 6.5%) that has made the GP de Plumelec famous and it will again play a key role in the 2016 edition of the event. During the 182km race, the riders will tackle the short, steep climb no less than 13 times on what will be a tough day in the saddle.

The race both starts and finishes in Plumelec and can be split in three parts. First the riders will tackle a relatively flat 52.2km circuit before they head to the finish to go up the climb for the first time. Then they will do six laps of a 13.9km circuit that has a small climb at the midpoint before the riders descend to the bottom of the key climb that again leads to the finish. The final part of the race is made up of six laps of a shorter 7.7km circuit that cuts the smaller climb from the big circuit. In fact, the small circuit consists of the descent from the Cote de Cadoudal and very short flat section and the 1800m climb to the finish.

The course is the same as the one that was used for last year’s race.

The favourites

The GP de Plumelec has a very iconic finish which makes it a bit like Fleche Wallonne. The course is hilly and selective but there are a number of riders who specialize in this kind of uphill sprint and they want it to come down to a battle between the puncheurs on the final climb. History shows that it is very hard to prevent an uphill sprint in the end.

This is unlikely to change for the 2016 edition. The weather could potentially have played a role but there will barely be any wind. There may be a shower late in the afternoon but it should do nothing to change the race.

Ag2r have a very strong team at the start and will be riding in support of defending champion Alexis Vuillermoz. They really have the potential to blow the race to pieces but they will probably do everything to control the race. Direct Energie also want an uphill sprint and the same is likely to be the case for FDJ. With most of the strongest teams wanting that kind of finish, we expect it again to be a battle between the puncheurs. However, Ag2r will probably try to make the race hard and so it will probably be a rather small group that arrives for the finish.

Last year Alexis Vuillermoz won the stage and he is again our favourite. The Frenchman seems to have taken another step up in 2016 but unfortunately his progress was cut short as he crashed at the Amstel Gold Race and so we never got the chance to see what he could do in the Ardennes. Since then he has recovered and trained for the Tour de France and he claims to be back in form for this race.

The crash and lack of racing raise some doubts but last year the race also marked his comeback. Back then he was unstoppable in the finale and he has a great team to support him. Samuel Dumoulin and Pierre Latour can set him up for the uphill sprint. He would have preferred it to be steeper and he may come up short against some of the faster guys. However, we believe that Ag2r will make the race so hard that he is going to win.

His biggest rival could be Arthur Vichot. The Frenchman was back on track after his disastrous 2015 season when he won the Tour du Haut Var in February. Unfortunately, he got ill in the classics so we never saw what he could do in the Ardennes. He hasn’t raced since then so his form is uncertain but we expect him to be on track for his upcoming goals. He last did this race in 2013 when he was fourth and he is a lot stronger now. He likes these uphill sprints as he proved when he finished on the podium at the GP de Quebec. He has Kevin Reza to set him up for the sprint. On paper he is faster than Vuillermoz in a flat sprint but the Ag2r rider is punchier on the climbs. That sets the scene for an exciting battle.

The big joker is Bryan Coquard. Usually, we would expect the climb to be too hard for the Frenchman but this year he has been climbing better than ever. He was fourth at Amstel Gold Race and this speaks volumes about his climbing skills. He was also close to victory in the 4 Days of Dunkirk queen stage. However, he ran out of legs in the finale and we doubt that he will be able to beat the likes of Vichot and Vuillermoz on this kind of climb. However, he likes uphill sprints and nowadays nothing seems to be impossible for him.

Caja Rural are here with a very strong team that is led by Tour of Turkey winner Jose Goncalves. The Portuguese is an excellent uphill sprinter as he proved when he won a stage at last year’s Volta a Portugal. He is a big powerful guy and his performance in Turkey proves that his form is good. The climb may be a bit too steep for him to really benefit from his speed but he can definitely win this race.

Cofidis are here without Mr. GP Plumelec. Julien Simon is not at the start so they will have to change their strategy. Arnold Jeannesson is probably their best card in a sprint. The climber is back on form and has been riding really well all year. However, he is not a real puncheur and even though he has a decent kick, he will come up short against the faster guys. He needs a hard race to excel. Rudy Molard and Romain Hardy can also do well for Cofidis in a sprint as can Nicolas Edet, Anthony Turgis and Luis Angel Mate but they will probably need to attack to win the race.

Fortuneo-Vital Concept are here with Pierrick Fedrigo. The Frenchman has been close to victory in the past but after his great 2015 season he has not been at his best in 2016. However, he showed signs of improvement in Dunkirk and if he has improved since then, he will be a contender. Florian Vachon and Armindo Fonseca are back-up plans but the climb is probably too steep for them.

An uphill sprint is also great for Delio Fernandez who has finally found his legs after a slow start. He rode strongly in Dunkirk and he specializes in this kind of finish. If he has improved since the race in Dunkirk, he will be a contender.

Samuel Dumoulin is a former winner of the race but he will probably have to work for Vuillermoz. However, he may get his chance if the defending champion is not feeling good.

Caja Rural have a strong team of climbers. Angel Madrazo, Sergio Pardilla and Hugh Carthy are all strong on the ascents but they are not explosive enough to win in an uphill sprint. However, they will try to blow the race to pieces and go on the attack.

Finally, we are curious to see what the French climbing talent Nans Peter can do here.

***** Alexis Vuillermoz

**** Arthur Vichot, Bryan Coquar

*** Jose Goncalves, Arnold Jeannesson, Pierrick Fedrigo, Delio Fernandez

** Romain Hardy, Rudy Molard, Samuel Dumoulin, Angel Madrazo, Hugh Carthy, Sergio Pardilla, Luis Angel Mate

* Nans Peters, Anthony Turgis, Nicolas Edet, Thomas Sprengers, Florian Vachon, Kevin Reza, Armindo Fonseca, Lilian Calmejane, Garikoitz Bravo, Guillaume Levarlet