Most riders have their firmly fixed on the Ardennes but for many French riders, the focus is different. With no less than three races in four days, this week is the busiest of the Coupe de France series and offers lots of points for the competition which is always important for the French teams. After the sprint festival in Denain, the series heads to Brittany for a busy weekend where the punchy climbers will get their chance on Saturday and the classics specialist will come to the fore in Sunday’s mini version of Paris-Roubaix.

This part of April is mostly about the Ardennes classics but for the French teams, it is also one of the most important weeks of the year for different reasons. Three of the 16 races in the season-long Coupe de France series are gathered in just four days at the end of the week and this makes it a crucial time for riders that aim for the overall honours in the series.

To make things more complicated, the races are vastly different. Thursday’s GÅ de Denain is known as the French championships for the sprinters and is usually decided in a bunch sprint. The weekend races in Brittany don’t appeal to the fast riders as Saturday’s Tour du Finistere is held in hilly terrain that makes it look like a small Ardennes classic while the gravel roads of Sunday’s Tro Bro Leon have given the race the nickname of the Breton Paris-Roubaix.

Compared to many French races, Tour du Finistere is a relatively new event that has been held since 1986 around the city of Quimper. For many years, it was an amateur race and only turned into a pro event in 2000. It has been a 1.1 race since the current UCI system was introduced in 2005 and has been art of the Coupe de France series since 2007.

Brittany is known for its narrow, winding roads, windy and rainy conditions and short, steep climbs. This is what characterizes Tour du Finistere and its toughness is reflected in its list of winners. Punchy Ardennes specialists like Cyril Gautier, Julien Simon, Florian Vachon and Simon Gerrans have all won the race and it has even been conquered by a climber as David Bernabeu won the race in 2002. However, strong sprinters can also have their say which is proved by the wins of Romain Feillu and the late Antoine Demoitie who took the biggest win of his career here in 2014.

Last year Tim De Troyer managed to hold off a reduced peloton to take the biggest win of his career. Jerome Baugnies won the sprint for second to make it a 1-2 for Wanty-Groupe Gobert while Julien Simon finished third and so made it onto the podium for the third time in his career.

The course

Like many Coupe de France races, Tour du Finistere can be split into two parts, with the first part being made up of a big loop around the main city and the finale being composed of a few laps of a finishing circuit. The 192.9km race starts in Saint-Evarzec just south of the main city of Quimper and then heads into the hilly terrain northeast of the city. The lumpy course barely features a single metre of flat roads and there is a total of six climbs on the menu before the riders get to Quimper for the first time. The climbs are spread throughout the entire course, coming at the 31.3km, 59km, 80.7km, 105.6km, 118.5km and 135.5km marks respectively.

After 149.4km of racing, the riders will go up the small climb to the finish for the first time, contesting the seventh and final KOM sprint at the first passage of the line. The final part of the race consists of five laps of an 8.7km circuit which is a tough, undulating affair. The hardest part is a steep 12.5% climbs just after the flamme rouge which leads to the final 700m of false flat. Furthermore, it’s a very technical finale as there are three turns in quick succession inside the final kilometre, leading to the very short finishing straight of around 200m.

The weather

The weather can be really bad in Brittany but the riders will have reasonable conditions for Saturday’s race. It will be a cloudy day with a bit of sunshine and there will only be a 25% chance of rain. There will be a moderate wind from a northerly direction. This means it will mainly be a headwind in the first part and tailwind in the second par. On the finishing circuit, it will first be a headwind and then a short crosswinds section leads to the cross-tailwind in the finale.

The favourites

The Tour du Finistere is one of the hardest Coupe de France races and that makes it difficult to call. On one hand, only two editions have been decided in sprint from bigger groups since 2009: in 2012 when Julien Simon took the win and in 2011 when Romain Feillu was the fastest. However, last year it was only Tim De Troyer who denied the puncheurs and strong sprinters the chance to go for the win and in recent years, the race seems to have been more geared towards a sprint finish. Mostly, a small group has decided the race but the peloton has rarely been far behind.

As in every Breton race, the weather plays a crucial role. Saturday will be a reasonable day and as it will mainly be a tail- or a headwind, the wind won’t split the field. This will make the race less selective and this makes it more likely that we will have a sprint.

However, the deciding factor will of course be the approach of the teams. Which teams will be going for a sprint and which teams will try to attack? Julien Simon has always been strong in this race so there is little doubt that Cofidis want to sprint with their fast Frenchman. However, the other big French teams FDJ, Directo Energie and Fortuneo-Vital Concept want an aggressive race. It’s harder to call how Ag2r will approach the race as they don’t have their best team here and they probably want to sprint with Samuel Dumoulin.

This means that much will depend on whether Cofidis can keep things together. They clearly have the strongest team in this race and they have some great climbers for this kind of hilly race. However, those riders are also very good options for breakaways so they may prefer to cover go on the attack if they are unable to control things. If Cofidis make it into an early or late move, there is a very big chance that the group will stay away.

Nonetheless, the most likely outcome is a sprint finish as this is what Cofidis will prefer. They will get some help from the Wallonie team and maybe Ag2r and in these weather conditions it will be harder to stay away. However, we doubt that Simon will be strong enough to win an uphill sprint. Baptiste Planckaert is in the form of his life as he proved by winning Tour de Normandie and finishing second in the Circuit des Ardennes. He likes this kind of false-flat sprint and is definitely one of the fastest riders in this field. In the past, the race has always been a bit too tough for him but now he is stronger than ever before. There’s no guarantee that he will be able to survive the climb in the end but this year we believe that he will be strong enough.

Samuel Dumoulin has been close to the win in the fast and on paper it’s a great race for him. He is punchy on short steep climbs and is fast in a sprint. This year he has had a slow start to the season as he has been marred by health issues but he is slowly getting better. He was still not able to compete with the best in the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe queen stage but since then he has definitely improved. There are still no guarantees that he will be strong enough to handle this kind of race but we believe that he will be ready.

As said, Julien Simon has had lots of success in this race. In fact he has been on every step of the podium which is no big surprise. He is a great puncheur who loves uphill sprints. However, he is no longer as fast as he once was and he doesn’t have the same kind of success in sprints as he had a few years ago. Furthermore, he has been very inconsistent and after his great 2014 season, he has not been at his best. He didn’t really shine in Pais Vasco where he suffered on the climbs so it remains to be seen whether he is in a condition to go for the win here.

If Simon is not up for the challenge, Cofidis can play the Romain Hardy card. Hardy recently finished third in the Sarthe queen stage and so is in great condition. He is great in this kind of terrain and is fast in a sprint. He can go for the win both by attacking and by taking over from Simon in a sprint finish.

Sylvain Chavanel leads Direct Energie but it remains to be seen whether his form is good enough to win. He rode poorly at Paris-Roubaix where he was dropped surprisingly early from the breakaway. However, this race is great for him as he is brutally strong in this terrain and can sprint both from a small group or the peloton.

FDJ are here without their Ardennes specialists and this opens the door for Laurent Pichon to chase some rare success. He was fourth in the Sarthe time trial and seems to be riding really well. He excels in hilly terrain and is fast in a sprint which means that he can win the race in every scenario.

Pierrick Fedrigo has never won this race but it suits him well. He has had some health issues but is now back on track. Even though he is fast, he is unlikely to win a sprint but if he goes on the attack, he will definitely be one of the favourites in a sprint.

Wanty won the race in 2015 with Tim De Troyer and hope to defend the title. Their best card is Dimitri Claeys who is strong on short climbs and fast in a sprint. His top 10 at the Tour of Flanders proves that the form is great.

Olivier Pardini won the Circuit des Ardennes overall. He has been in great form all year and is really suited to this race. He will probably try to attack and use his fast sprint from a small group but if the race becomes too hard for Planckaert, he will also give a go in a bunch sprint.

There are a number of strong climbers who can go on the attack and win the race from the breakaway. Alexandre Geniez, Romain Sicard, Stephane Rossetto, Arnold Jeannesson and Nicolas Edet won’t win a spring but are strong enough to make a difference in the finale.

Finally, we will point to Romain Feillu and Rudy Barbier as outsiders for a sprint. We doubt that they will be strong enough to be competitive in this tough finale – Feillu is not as strong as he was when he won in 2011 but they have both shown good form and may deliver a surprise.

***** Baptiste Planckaert

****Samuel Dumoulin, Julien Simon

*** Romain Hardy, Sylvain Chavanel, Laurent Pichon, Pierrick Fedrigo, Dimitri Claeys, Olivier Pardini

** Alexandre Geniez, Arnold Jeannesson, Nicolas Edet, Rudy Barbier, Romain Feillu

* Romain Sicard, Stephane Rossetto, Julien El Fares, Jerome Baugnies, Lilian Calmejane, Armindo Fonseca, Anthony Turgis, Leonardo Duque, Guillaume Boivin