October 21, 2007 (Les Herbiers, France) – I just came back from Le Chrono des Nations in Les Herbiers, France. I decided three weeks ago to take part in this race as I had sold my old bike from the 2005 season to a French resident during my school break and I thought it would be a good way to end of the year, and a great occasion to visit some friends.

During the previous weeks, I had decent feelings on the bike, but woke up feeling average on race day. The circuit was 38.4km with no major difficulties and I thought I could average 43-44 km/h. Going into the race, I quickly realized that it would not be the performance of the year but I kept going the best I could. The head wind was very hard as it was on the second part of the course and on very long straight. My splits were: 18, 21, 22 and finish in 23 in about 42km/h of average and a big 5:53 behind the race winner Michael Christensen of Denmark, top-4 finisher at the 2007 Stuttgart Road Worlds.

Considering the fact that my last race was the track nationals one month and a half ago, I am not too much disappointed at the result. My Ergomo computer shows 330watts – 92RPM, and 176HR average at the end of the race which is good for me, but the few kms spent at low wattage at 35km/h in the front wind get me loose time very quickly. This race is organized by ASO who also run Le tour de France and everything is well planned and the crowds were impressive. Winner in the elite men category was hungarian Laszlo Bodrogi with a very impressive time of 59min18 over 48,3km.

Finally, that was also my last race in the pink uniform as I am going with team Volkswagen-Trek next year. It is now the time for a good recovery and then start the training again in about one month. Hopefully, I will go a few times to the Forest City Velodrome in London. I wish we could have a track like this in Quebec.

Results

Elite Men – 38.43km

1. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 59.18.2 (48.890 km/h)
2. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.36.7
3. Stef Clement (Ned) Bouygues Telecom 2.13.5
4. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr) AG2r Prévoyance 2.26.1
5. Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel) 2.34.4
6. Gustav Larsson (Swe) Unibet.com 2.53.8
7. Matti Helminen (Fin) DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed 2.57.1
8. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3.54.6
9. Gregor Gazvoda (Slo) Perutnina Ptuj 4.01.8
10. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Predictor-Lotto 4.06.1
11. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team CSC 4.14.4
12. Andry Grivko (Ukr) Team Milram 4.15.2
13. Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4.50.4
14. Maxim Gourov (Kaz) Astana 4.59.5
15. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 5.02.6
16. Nicholas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole 5.27.5
17. Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 5.37.4
18. Sébastien Duret (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.14.9
19. Kilian Patour (Fra) Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle 6.23.4
20. Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 6.31.1
21. Noan Lelarge (Fra) Bretagne-Armor Lux 6.53.7
22. Dominique Cornu (Bel) Predictor-Lotto 7.16.6
23. Matija Kvasina (Cro) Perutnina Ptuj 7.21.4
24. Freddy Bichot (Fra) Agritubel 7.50.3
25. Denis Robin (Fra) Agritubel 7.57.8
26. Niels Brouzes (Fra) Auber 8.11.1

U23 Men – 38.43 km

1. Mads Christensen (Den) Danish National team 49.24.9 (46,676 km/h)
2. Yoann Offredo (Fra) CC Nogent-sur-oise 1.24.9
3. Alexandre Roux (Fra) UC Sable 2.03.0
4. Sébastien Fournet-Fayard (Fra) Cr4c Roanne 2.18.6
5. Romain Lemarchand (Fra) US Creteil 2.22.5
6. Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) CC Nogent-sur-oise 2.28.6
7. Pawel Wachnik (Pol) Cr4c Roanne 2.39.1
8. Alexandre Binet (Fra) Vendee U 2.51.0
9. Yann Moritz (Fra) Spanish National Team 2.55.4
10. Olivier Migne (Fra) Vendee U 2.55.5
11. Yannick Ricordel (Fra) Team U Nantes-Atlantique 2.59.8
12. Ludovic Bret (Fra) Vendee U 3.06.5
13. Benoît Roten (Swi) Team Megabike 3.19.3
14. Jonathan Dufrasne (Bel) CC Haut-pays 3.26.2
15. Bryan Nauleau (Fra) Vendee U 3.35.0
16. Boris Carene (Fra) Team U Nantes-Atlantique 3.56.0
17. Antoine Dy (Fra) Ag Orval-Coutances 4.04.8
18. Christophe Laborie (Fra) ECC Montmarault 4.28.3
19. Florian Allaizeau (Fra) Team U Nantes-Atlantique 4.33.6
20. Romain Marchand (Fra) Ec Rance-Fremur 4.59.0
21. Teddy Villette (Fra) Flers Cyclisme 61 5.43.7
22. François Niay (Fra) VC Rouen 5.51.5
23. Jean-Michel Lachance (Can) Garneau Crocs 5.52.1
24. Rémi Grelier (Fra) La Roche Vendee 6.58.2

Women – 20.69 km

1. Susanne Ljungskog (Swe) Team Flexpoint 29.21.8 (42.296 km/h)
2. Bridie O’Donnell (Aus) Team Kingdom Diamond 0.23.2
3. Priska Doppmann (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 0.40.2
4. Tereza Hurikova (Cze) Czech Republic National Team 0.45.7
5. Emma Pooley (Gbr) Team Specialized designs for women 0.46.4
6. Sarah Duster (Ger) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 0.48.7
7. An Van Rie (Bel) AA-Drink Cycling Team 0.49.7
8. Marina Jaunatre (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope 0.59.5
9. Edwige Pitel (Fra) Team Uniqa 1.17.2
10. Lada Kozlikova (Cze) Team Uniqa 1.26.3
11. Pascale Schnider (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1.54.1
12. Patricia Schwager (Swi) Raleigh Lifeforce Pro Cycling Team 1.54.7
13. Julie Augizeau (Fra) VC Aizenay 2.06.0
14. Ludivine Henrion (Bel) Team DSB Bank 2.06.1
15. Cathy Moncassin (Fra) Les Pruneaux D’Agen 2.19.4
16. Pippa Handley (Gbr) Edinburgh Road Club 2.26.2
17. Maja Andamsen (Den) Danish National Team 2.37.9
18. Larssyn Ruegg (USA) Team Specialized designs for women 2.57.7
19. Florence Girardet (Fra) Montaubant CF82 3.16.7
20. Joanne Duval (Fra) AC Brevinois 3.19.0
21. Emmanuelle Merlot (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope 3.46.6
22. Anne-Karelle Hocq (Fra) VCC 4.11.9
23. Julie Dheruelle (Fra) Vienne Futuroscope 4.21.9
24. Emmanuelle Crossoir (Fra) CC Vitre 5.08.1
25. Florence Dony (Fra) AS Neuilly 5.29.6
26. Murielle Rideau (Fra) US Cholet 6.39.1
27. Martine Vrignaud (Fra) SS Nieulaise 7.00.0
DNF Caroline Kloiber (Gbr) Institute Of Sport
DNS Siobhan Dervan (Irl) Belisol-Lotto
DNS Christel Pourias (Fra) CC Chateaubriant
DNS Mie Lacota (Den) Team Flexpoint