Tro-Bro Léon: Nizzolo holds off De Lie for victory in Brittany race

DOUR BELGIUM FEBRUARY 28 Giacomo Nizzolo of Italy and Team Israel Premier Tech competes during the 55th Grand Prix Le Samyn 2023 Mens Elite a 209km race from Quaregnon to Dour on February 28 2023 in Dour Belgium Photo by Luc ClaessenGetty Images

Giacomo Nizzolo of Israel-Premier Tech (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)

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Results

Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) won a bunch sprint at Tro-Bro Léon in Lannilis and denied Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) a second consecutive victory. De LIe finished second just ahead of Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM).

With 10km to go, five riders hit the front and were then joined by two more 2.5km later for the decisive lead group - Nizzolo, De Lie and Eekhoff were joined by Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Pro Cycling) and a trio of French riders, Clément Venturini (AG2R Citroën), Laurent Pinchon (Team Arkéa Samsic) and Eddy Finé (Cofidis ).

“Today was a very, very special race,"Nizzolo said. "I had to ride all day on the front, but the team worked to keep me in a good position until the race exploded with around seventy kilometers to go, and then there were only thirty of us. I was unlucky to get a puncture with thirty kilometers to go, so I had to make a big effort to get back, and then I was dropped in a decisive sector, but managed to come back again. I really had to suffer today to get the victory."

The 203.1km Brittany race began under cloudy skies from Plouguerneau and road remained dry for the multiple unpaved sections, totaling 29km of the route, with the final unpaved surface at the finish line in Lannilis. Three riders took off for a 150-km breakaway - Morne Van Niekerk (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93), Maël Guégan (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Damien Girard (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur).

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).