The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale runner won on Sunday in the road race of the French championships, between Avranches and Saint-Martin-de-Landelles.
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It was the men’s turn on Sunday June 23. And as with the women the day before, the victory came down to a sprint. In a three-way finale, it’s finally Paul Lapeira (Décathlon AG2R La Mondiale) who won, at home, in the road race of the French championships between Avranches and Saint-Martin-de-Landelles (240.6 kilometers). He became French champion for the first time, at the age of 24, beating Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) – already in bronze last year – And Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies).
#Avranches2024 | 🚴♂️ PAUL LAPEIRA CROWNED CHAMPION OF FRANCE!!🇫🇷
He won ahead of Julien Bernard and Thomas Gachignard pic.twitter.com/19ZNKMndmD
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) June 23, 2024
Vincent Lavenu’s team completes a perfect French Championships, since Lapeira’s coronation comes two days after Bruno Armirail’s title during the time trial, like a successful first half of the season where she is now at 26 victories.
Paul Lapeira laid the first stone of his success by leaving the peloton three laps from the end to enter the leading group in the company of Julien Bernard and Thomas Gachignard. Faster than his breakaway companions, he managed the end of the race perfectly to win with ease in the sprint. Behind this trio, Julian Alaphilippe and a handful of pursuers tried to attack several times, but the offensives were all annihilated by the impressive armada of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team.
“I dreamed of it, I’m five kilometers from home, these are the roads I’ve been training on since I was little, the race was perfect, the team was perfect, there was not a single misstep. It was the dream day, I don’t have the wordsconfided the Norman to the microphone of Eurosport after the race. The season is incredible for us. Today we are right in our place and we are harvesting what has been worked on for months. The dynamic is just fantastic. Nothing more beautiful could happen to me.”
Except perhaps being aligned with the Tour de France, which will start next Saturday June 29 from Florence: “I do not know. For the moment there is nothing official, I think there is a good chance that you will see me on the roads of the Tour.“
