Aaron Wade claimed the third victory for Irish riders in France at the weekend after he took an aggressive approach to the finale of Baignes Grand Prix and finished out front alone.
The Team U Cube 17 rider's victory followed on from John Buller (AC Bisontine) winning Prix de Frontenaud in Saône-et-Loire on Saturday while junior rider Conal Scully won the Tour Centre Alsace Junior stage 1 TT in Sélestat on Sunday.
Wade (20) suffered a set-back in May when a racing crash in France resulted in a fractured ulna and hand, forcing the Irish U23 international onto the sidelines for more than a month. Since then he has recovered and had a period of racing at home before returning to France.
During yesterday's race he got into a breakaway very early in the 100km event, which was 10 laps of a 10km circuit. While the breakaway men worked well together to open a gap on the bunch in the first half of the race, that cooperation ebbed away a little after they hit the halfway point.
Advertisement
Related News
Two of the breakaway riders then attacked and managed to get clear, though one was dropped with about two laps to go. That left just the lone leader – Spanish rider Samuel Mazaud (CC Marmandias ) - out front.
That splitting of the two leaders sparked a
reaction in the chasing group behind, with repeated attacks being launched in pursuit
of Mazaud.
And while Wade is a fast finisher, he joined the moves and managed to get the better of the others in those exchanges. He went clear on his own shortly after the final lap began and got across to Mazaud, before dropping him.
The Irish rider then powered on alone to the finish, where he had plenty of time to celebrate his win as he was 40 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, Mazaud in 2nd place. Another Spanish rider, Takumi Ogasawarra (EC Trelissac Coulounieix), won the sprint for 3rd place from the remaining seven breakaway men some 1:15 behind Wade.
Baignes Grand Prix | Top 12
1 WADE Aaron APOGE 2:27:50
2 MAZAUD Samuel CC MARMANDAIS 40secs
3 OGASAWARA Takumi EC TRELISSAC COULOUNIEIX 24 1:15
4 HERBRETEAU Loic TEAM COOP VELOCITE
5 SAUZEAU Maxence TEAM SAINT SAUVEUR
6 DARBO Christophe STADE MONTOIS CYCLISME
7 GUERIN Alexandre APOGE
8 QUEYRET Maxime CA CASTELSARRASIN
9 BERNAGAUD Alexis CC PERIGUEUX DORDOGNE
10 LATESTERE Adrien MONTAUBAN CYCLISME 82 Pass 2:20
11 BOSSIS Tristan VCC MARENNES
12 SUHUBIETTE Lionel SAINT PAUL SPORTS
