The two races in Brittany were a particular success for Grace BROWN.
The Australian put in a demonstration performance at the GP du Morbihan. She won solo after a 40-kilometre breakaway, alone against the peloton.
A few days later, the Bretagne Ladies Tour unfortunately didn’t get off to the best of starts for the FDJ-SUEZ team. With only five girls at the start, the red and blues quickly lost Stine BORGLI on the first day (ill), then Victorie GUILMAN the following day after a fall.
The race was made difficult by the weather and the crashes, but Grace still came out on top in the overall rankings. A victory built on the time trial on stage three, where she finished more than a minute ahead of M. BOOGAARD (AG INSURANCE – SOUDAL QUICK-STEP). A real performance from the Australian champion, in her favourite exercise.
My victory in the GP of Morbihan was very satisfying after a difficult period of spring classics.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a long solo breakaway like this, and even longer since I’ve won in this way. It was a really tough race, but it was fun to take a risk and succeed.
The team did a remarkable job in the peloton behind, covering up attacks and disrupting the chase so that I could win the race.”
At the Bretagne Ladies Tour, we had a difficult start, losing more than 50 seconds in the leading group on the first stage after a big crash. It seemed that the final victory was out of reach, but the team continued to fight and after my victory on stage 3, we were in the lead.
The last two stages were difficult for defending the jersey, with only three riders in the race. Eugénie and Emilia looked after me really well and we fought hard to stay in control right up to the final finish. It’s always a very special feeling to win the overall classification with the team.
Grace BROWN
