Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar) sailed past Clément Venturini (Unibet Rose Rockets) on the uphill finish to win Boucles de l'Aulne - Châteaulin on Sunday.
The punchy incline in Châteaulin was part of four finishing circuits in the final 33km of the 177.8km one-day race. Unibet Rose Rockets' Lander Loockx hammered up the climb for Venturini, but Barrenetxea was glued to the duo along with Maxime Vezie (CIC Pro Cycling Academy) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ United).
The quintet went for the sprint together, the course flattening with 250 metres to go. As Venturini launched around his teammate, the Movistar rider went wider and faster, and held the lead through the line in Châteaulin.
Barrenetxea went back-to-back with victories on the weekend, taking the bunch sprint win a day before at Tour du Finistère in Quimper. Venturini improved one spot, taking second on Sunday. Vezie held on for third ahead of Loockx. Gaudu trailed three seconds later in fifth.
Once the finishing circuits, nine riders were in the breakaway. Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros) dropped due to a mechanical, leaving the eventual top five finishers with Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar), Pierre Theirry (TotalEnergies) and Lucas Bénéteau (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93), who survived until the final 6km.
With the hill to be conquered, Thierry attacked first, then Cepeda, with the Unibet Rose Rockets duo taking over but falling one spot short.
Boucles de l'Aulne was the ninth round of the FDJ United Series, which is led by Venturini. The Frenchman holds a 90-point margin over Barrenetxea, who moved ahead of USA's Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) in the series.
Results
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