There is great anticipation for the Bretagne Classic , a category 4 World Tour race scheduled for Sunday in Plouay, in north-western France.

A race that, over the years, has assumed an increasingly important value in terms of the quality of the participants, with many of the protagonists returning from the Tour de France and numerous first-tier riders preparing for the world championships scheduled at the end. September.

The transalpine semi-classic is 254 km long and this year has a different ending compared to the 2021 edition won by Benoît Cosnefroy (Ag2R) in a two-man sprint on Julian Alaphilippe: the group will face almost 4,000 meters in altitude and after the first part in line the big news will be the final circuit of 11.7 kilometers with the climb of Rostervel (1.5 km at 4.5%), before the last two bumps of the day: Lezot (0.9 km at 5.3%) and Kerscoulic (0.225 km at 8.9%). At this point there will be a little more than 3 kilometers to the end almost all downhill, except the last hundreds of meters, where the road will slightly rise again.

A test suitable for classic men, therefore, who keep up the climbs well and have a quick start in an almost compact finish. The news of the last hour is the presence of Tadej Pogacar , confirmed by the team. The Slovenian, therefore, will begin preparing for the World Championship and Lombardy by racing first in France and then in the two Canadian races on 9 and 11 September.

But the first name to be marked in red, based on the current start list, is that of Wout Van Aert , second in Hamburg and eager for redemption. There is no shortage of opponents: we would like to nominate Michael Matthews (Team Bike Exchange), winner in 2020 but on a different path, Diego Ulissi (Uae Emirates), Magnus Cort (Ef Educational Easy-Post), Dylan Teuns (Israel Premier Tech) , Warren Barguil and Hugo Hofstetter (Arkea Samsic), and Biniam Girmay (Intermarchè Wanty Gobert), a nice surprise of 2022.

The captain of the Ineos Grenadiers could instead be Jhonathan Narvaez, who appeared in good condition at Bemer. Special attention also goes to Alex Aranburu (Movistar), winner of the Tour du Limousin, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal looking for Uci points), and Cosnefroy himself, even if he does not seem to have a brilliant condition.

Finally, two teams that have more cards to play: the Quick Step presents itself with Mikkel Honorè, Mauro Schmid and Zdenek Stybar (but also Davide Ballerini and Andrea Bagioli ) while the Groupama Fdj deploys a very interesting trident with David Gaudu in support of Stefan Kung and Valentin Madouas . Let's not underestimate some pure sprinters who could resist even if in the event of a selective race wanted by some team their destiny appears to be sealed: we are referring to Arnaud Dèmare, Arnaud De Lie and Elia Viviani .

Remembering that the riders involved in the Tour of Germany (Pro Series only for leagues) cannot be exchanged until Sunday included, you must also beware of surprises: Marco Haller's victory in Hamburg teaches that at Fantacycling ... never say never .

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