Opening Weekend has been and gone and the Classics season is now properly underway. We saw big names celebrating big wins in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday for Mathieu van der Poel and Demi Vollering, and Britain’s own Matthew Brennan taking his second win of the season at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne the following day.
But those weren’t the only races on the calendar, and anyone able to look beyond the noise and fanfare of Opening Weekend, would have spotted other riders notching up some impressive results.
A gift for dad from Paul Seixas
If the 19-year-old phenom was hoping to slip into success under the radar, he should probably alter his approach. Paul Seixas‘s 42km solo breakaway to win the hilly Faun Ardeche Classic in the south of France had echoes of Tadej Pogačar and had French media shouting from the rooftops. “Incredible… what a performance,” trumpeted L’Équipe, who put him on the front page of the print version.
It was no soft win either – the Decathlon CMA CGM rider outgunned a strong field that included Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and more.
The Lyonnais rider said he struggled at times but kept in mind his family at the finish line: “It was tough — in the Val d’Enfer I was struggling at times, but I pushed myself to keep the rhythm. I was thinking about my family at the finish line; it was my dad’s birthday. It was crazy — I could hardly believe it. It was an incredible day, and the team did a fantastic job.”
France has been historically rather good at building up its promising talents to the point where the pressure becomes too much to bear, and judging by the first reader comment on the L’Équipe story, may need to rein itself in a little where Seixas is concerned. “This kid is going to sweep the whole country,” they wrote. “It’s written in the stars. And to hell with the naysayers! For those of us who, as kids, experienced the Tour de France with a French winner, there’s something truly moving about witnessing the emergence of such a French champion.”
Then again, going on the Decathlon CMA CGM rider’s results so far, who are we to argue?
Romain Grégoire has his say
(Image credit: Getty Images)
France had more to celebrate in the Faun Ardèche’s sister race, the Faun Drôme Classic, the following day. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) outsprinted breakaway partner Jorgenson as the chasing group bore down on them from behind.
With both Faun races contested by many of the same riders, 23-year-old French rider Grégoire – the winner of Faun Ardèche last year and a former Tour of Britain winner – had finished 22nd the previous day and Jorgenson fourth. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) led in the chase group, just two seconds later.
It was the first win of a season that has begun well for Besançon rider Grégoire. He was third on a stage at the Vuelta a Andalucia and finished fifth on GC.
Charlotte Kool opens up
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The move to new team Fenix-Premier Tech seems to be working for Dutch rider Charlotte Kool, who opened her account for the team at the Omloop het van Hageland on Sunday. One of the best sprinters in the women’s peloton, Kool led home the bunch sprint at the end of the 148km Belgian race – perhaps garnering a little extra motivation from the fact that the race was sponsored, like her team, by Fenix.
Kool has experienced health struggles, and notched up just one win last year – rather unaccustomed for a rider who just a couple of years back ended the season sitting on a dozen victories. She transferred from Picnic PostNL to Fenix-Deceuninck mid-season and this early victory will be a welcome confidence boost that she will take forward into the Classics.
