Martin Mortensen took the first big win for the ONE Pro Cycling team when he completed an excellent and aggressive performance by winning a sprint from a six-rider group at Tro-Bro Leon. After chasing back from a crash in the early part of the race, he launched a strong solo attack in the finale and after having been brought back, he still had enough left to come out on top in the sprint, with Peter Williams making it a memorable 1-2 for ONE. Florian Vachon (Fortuneo-Vital Concept) completed the podium.

 

We have gathered a few reactions.

 

Mortensen after biggest win of his career: The Frenchmen were collaborating to beat me

Hitting the first section of gravel roads after 62km the peloton became extremely strung out and saw some riders distanced immediately. It had been noted that section 4 was a particularly bad sector and as the peloton battled for position Martin Mortensen came down in a heavy crash affecting several riders. Whilst Mortensen was re-mounting and chasing through the cars Hayden McCormick had found himself in a front group of 15 riders.

 

After around 20km in the breakaway the peloton re-grouped but Pete Williams was on his toes establishing himself in a group of 14 riders at 108km of racing. That breakaway was allowed no more than 30 seconds before being closed down by a peloton nervous to let anything go.

 

Almost immediately Dion Smith found himself in a new breakaway that formed again being allowed no more than 30 seconds.  As his group was about to be caught he suffered a rear wheel puncture, luckly Sebastian Lander was on hand to pass him a wheel quick as within 10 seconds Martin Mortensen also suffered a puncture to which the team car dealt with.

 

With Smith and Mortensen now both chasing through the convoy to regain Hayden McCormick and Pete Williams both slipped up into the new breakaway after 13 sections. 18 men in total were in this group with 159km of racing covered.

 

Heading into the final hour of racing and with 32km remaining Dion Smith rode across to the front of the race to join his team mates up the road, making a 21 man group.

 

This was a little big for the peloton and they quickly rode it down meaning the race situation was all back together with around 40 riders in the peloton. Feeling strong ONE Pro Cycling force another move at the front with Martin Mortensen and Pete Williams creating a breakaway of around 10 riders. This group held the peloton at 30 seconds as the race headed into the closing stages.

 

Mortensen launched a solo attack with 18km remaining and was looking strong, he was joined after a couple of kilometres by two chasing riders creating a lead group of 3 with the seven chasers including Williams just 15 seconds behind. With just 5km to go Mortensen again attacked his breakaway companions and held them at just 8 seconds for the next couple of kilometres. The two chasers clawed there way back up to Mortensen with just 2km remaining as the riders tackled the last sector of gravel road.

 

A tactical battle ensued with no rider wanting to waste too much energy as they headed into the finish. With the finish line ahead of them the riders were still battling for position as the remains of the breakaway were clawing there way back to the front. Pete Williams who had been policing the chase group jumped out of the group as Martin Mortensen started his sprint, accelerating away from the two riders that had accompanied him in the breakaway.

 

Mortensen crossing the line arms aloft whilst teammate Pete Williams raced home to take 2nd. The result is ONE Pro Cycling’s best UCI result to date a 1-2 after a fantastic day of racing a really strong showing by the team.

 

Commenting after the race Sports Director Matt Winston said, “I said to the boys this morning to go out, race hard and close to the front the whole way through and enjoy the event. Its not often you get to race like this with farm tracks, gravel roads…just head out and have some fun. That is what they certainly did and it was a massively proud moment for me to see the team with a 1-2.”

 

Mortensen said: "I was pushing because both Frenchmen (Vachon and Pichon) did not want to ride with me and they worked together to get back to me. My motivation came from the way the team worked, especially as I had good legs despite my crash after 90km."
 

Peter Williams: This proves that ONE can compete with the big teams

“It has been amazing, I’m so happy for Martin and the team," Williams said. "It feels like such an achievement. We’ve spent the last few races finding our feet and learning a lot along the way so it’s great to get the ball rolling again, especially when we know there’s a lot more to come.”

 

“It was pretty crazy to be honest. It’s a technically and physically demanding course and you find yourself fighting for position all the time. You’re not just going hard for 20km, you go hard for the entire race. Your legs are screaming at you.

 

“Crashes and punctures are almost inevitable in a race like Tro Bro Leon. You have to be clever and think about sustaining your equipment and not just your legs. If you have a mechanical or a puncture in your ‘average’ race, you can usually get sorted pretty quickly with support from the team car.

 

"In Tro Bro Leon you’re not always guaranteed to have help on hand as the narrow lanes make it difficult for team cars to make their way up the convoy. The way the race was panning out, we were covering everything and making all of the right moves to make a result a good possibility. People often say there’s a slight element of luck involved, I think you make your own luck.

 

 

“There was a peloton but it was reducing all the time. Groups were attacking off the front but being swallowed up on the different sections. Every time they came and went there were less riders to contend with. I can’t say I was 100% convinced Martin and I were in the winning group of riders but we knew everyone was suffering.

 

"I know how hard it was to bridge across to Martin’s group when he attacked off the front. So I knew everyone was in a painful place. Going into the finale both Martin and I were feeling good, that’s when I became more confident that we could try something and make a move.

 

 

“I was generally feeling quite good. Martin went really early from a long way out and I knew I had to make my ride as easy as possible to conserve some energy. I sat on the chase group with the aim of disrupting them, but equally if it came back together I knew I would have to play my cards and go for the sprint alongside Martin.

 

 

“I made contact with Martin and the other two leaders with 250m to go, then it was all guns blazing to the line. I started the sprint from the back of the group so I knew I had no one on my wheel to disrupt Martin’s effort. Martin kicked from his position as I was making my way up to him, so it worked out perfectly.

 

"Races like that generally suit me where it’s hard all day rather than at short or specific moments in time. But at the end everyone was tired and it was a different kind of sprint than it usually would be. I had an easier ride behind in the chase group than the leaders which played to my advantage so I had slightly fresher legs.

 

 

 

“I can’t really describe it, I want to say relief but that’s not quite the right word. It was simply confirmation of everyone’s hard work over the last few months. It was great to celebrate the win with Martin and the rest of the boys, it was really special.

 

“It was a pretty cool race smashing through all the rough gravel tracks one minute and then along the coast the next. The scenery was amazing. Racing is always good fun, it’s why I do it but when you’re racing around a beautiful area with lots of different types of terrain where you get a bit of a play around… it’s even better.

 

“Like I said before, it’s confirmation that we’re good enough to be racing against the big boys and prove that we can win against the best in the sport. The ball will definitely start rolling now. It’s our first big win in Europe and a special race at that. There are plenty more races on the calendar and lots of goals still to achieve. It sets us up nicely for the next part of the season, we haven’t finished yet… we’re only starting.

 

 

“I’m looking forward to our first two British races of the year, the Rutland Cicle Classic and the of course what has become my local race the Tour de Yorkshire. It will be nice spending a bit of time at home in Britain and meeting our British fans and supporters.”

 

Florian Vachon gracious in defeat: Mortensen was the strongest

"Mortensen was the strongest,” third-placed Florian Vachon told L’Equipe. “He attacked three times and he won the sprint. Things were clear with Laurent. I told him that I would not take him to the sprint because I knew he was stronger than me and in good shape now. But we were too focused on each other, it's true, and Mortensen was able to benefit from the fact that we marked each other.”

 

Frustrated Laurent Pichon: We should have worked together to beat Mortensen

"We were good friends, Vachon and me, at Bretagne (their former team, ed.) but we lacked the understanding between us. OK, this is the bike racing but I find it frustrating,” fourth-placed Laurent Pichon told L’Equipe.

 

Baptiste Planckaert with mixed emotions after mini Paris-Roubaix

Baptiste Planckaert finished 7th and extended his Coupe de France lead.

 

"I'm satisfied with my weekend, for sure," he after the finish of the Tro Bro Léon. "However, I am disappointed with my 7th place at Tro Bro Léon because I had very good legs and I'm sure I could do better. but I suffered two flat tires at the front, first after 130 kilometers and a second time just before entering the local circuit. I lost a lot of energy to get back to the leading group and I could not be there when the attack with Mortensen took shape. But I am happy because the Coupe de France did well. However, we still have a big challenge ahead. I will participate next Sunday in La Roue Tourangelle and then decide with the team my Coupe de France programme. I will participate in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque with ambitions of doing things very well. Before La Roue Tourangelle, I will allow myself a few days off to get fresh again.”