28th Tro Bro Leon - Hell of the West, Sunday April 17 - 206.4km

[Echoes]

This race is a top3 favourite of mine with Paris-Roubaix and the Montepaschi.

I think it deserved a thread of its own and not just a mention in the LKRR thread.

Tro Bro Leon means Tour of the Leon in Breton. The Leon is a former county of North West Brittany: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Map-Bro-Leon.png

It's sometimes nicknamed the Hell of the West after Paris-Roubaix.

It basically consists of stone paths called 'ribin' in Breton. They can be compared to the strade bianche, but not exactly the same I think. 34km200 on those !!

Video Live stream at 3.15pm (CET): http://video-direct.france3.fr/player.php?id=1086

Map:
http://www.tro-bro-leon.com/images/8.jpg

The 'ribins':

Provisional start-list: http://www.cyclingstartlists.com/2011/04Apr2011/26TroBro2011.htm (doesn't work here at the moment, I hope it's OK for you)

Crossers expected (it matters to me, yeah): Steve Chainel, Mathieu Boulo, Francis Mourey and Jempy Drucker.


Past Results:

2000 Jo Planckaert Samuel Sánchez Ludovic Capelle
2001 Jacky Durand Erwin Thijs Eddy Lembo
2002 Baden Cooke Walter Bénéteau Sébastien Hinault
2003 Samuel Dumoulin Philippe Gilbert Didier Rous
2004 Samuel Dumoulin Christophe Mengin Bert Scheirlinckx
2005 Tristan Valentin Cédric Coutouly Mikhail Timochin
2006 Mark Renshaw Alexandre Usov Jean-Patrick Nazon
2007 Saïd Haddou Sébastien Chavanel Christophe Diguet
2008 Frédéric Guesdon Maxim Gourov Julien Belgy
2009 Saïd Haddou Stéphane Bonsergent Lilian Jegou
2010 Jérémy Roy Renaud Dion Lloyd Mondory

 

[will10]

T'is a great race. I think more of the classics favourites would ride it if it had a similar date to the Strade Bianche, sort of early mid March.

 

[jobiwan]

Go Spidertech

 

[Rubertow]

Never heard of this race before (I'm fairly new to pro cycling) - but without seeing a pedal turned in anger i am now torn between this and Amstel Gold! thank god for multiple monitors!

 

[Willy_Voet]

There was a fairly good article on this race about 5 years ago in one of the cycling mags (Procycling?).

Hopefully I'll be able to catch some live coverage.

Doesn't Denmark have it's own version of this race?

 

[mortand]

Doesn't Denmark have it's own version of this race?

Yup, something quite similar at least. Grand Prix Herning is known for its long stretches of gravel road. Former winners include those renowned gravel conquerors Bjarne Riis (three-time winner in fact) and Claus Michael Møller. But also guys like Fréderic Moncassin, Frank Høj and - last year - Alex Rasmussen, all of whom make more sense. The 2011 edition is coming up next weekend.

Regarding Tro Bro Léon, I remember Eurosport covering it in 2008. It was great fun (to watch) as Frédéric Guesdon and Maxim Gourov fought a hard battle in tough conditions. It should be an interesting alternative to Amstel Gold Race.

 

[ergmonkey]

Doesn't Denmark have it's own version of this race?

GP Herning. Won last year by Alex Rasmussen. Herning is the future Danish host city of the Giro d'Italia.

 

[Willy_Voet]

Beautiful.

If I ever go to see it, I'll be sure to bring a few of my own broken bricks to throw on the course:

 

[lucybears]

Provisional start-list: http://www.cyclingstartlists.com/2011/04Apr2011/26TroBro2011.htm (doesn't work here at the moment, I hope it's OK for you)

you can always try 'fever

http://www.cyclingfever.com/editie.html?detp=view&_ap=startlijst&editie_idd=MjE4MTA=

definite list due shortly from
http://s288581967.onlinehome.fr/resultat/resultat.php5?code_course=GPM&menu=0&type=0
select from menu

 

[craig1985]

If it were up to me they would be going over parts of the Tro Bro Leon course during the Tour de France.

 

[luckyboy]

Sucks that AGR is the same time. Will find some highlights later though.

 

[LugHugger]

Sucks that AGR is the same time. Will find some highlights later though.

Yep, although for me TBL wins. AGR sky +'d

 

[online-rider]

Same here.Though I might as well flick over to Amstel just to check who's winning

 

[Mellow Velo]

Live now:
http://video-direct.france3.fr/player.php?id=1091
Running neck a neck with Amstel.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Looks like quite a crash there, half the péloton stopped in the middle of a dirt path.

Not as bad as Fabricio Ferrari's faceplant in Castilla y León earlier, but still.

 

[roundabout]

This race is crazy.

Flahaut is pretty ...err stocky.

 

[Kazistuta]

It looks great...was that a big front lawn, they just passed?

 

[Mellow Velo]

Yeah.
Somebody's garden, then through a farmyard!
Some of these tracks make P-R look neat and tidy.

 

[RedheadDane]

Wow! That race looks like fun! Of course I didn't have to actually ride it, doesn't look that fun to ride (especially not with the rain!)
Too bad I didn't get to see it...

 

[Hairy Wheels]

Tro Bro Leon...better than Amstel!

Did anyone else catch the Tro Bro today? Solid racing...not negative...wide open. Amstel...not to take anything away from Gilbert, but that race was like watching paint dry until the very end.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Div2 racing is more often than not, better racing in terms of viewing than the big stuff.

Hats off to Routley and that dirty sanchez Bruno.

 

[palmerq]

I wacthed the amstel gold race instead, although maybe I shouldn't have, this race looks interesting... Who won?

 

[Mellow Velo]

I wacthed the amstel gold race instead, although maybe I shouldn't have, this race looks interesting... Who won?

Vincent Jerome for Europcar and yes, it was a far, far better race.
Really unusual parcour to say the least!
Virtually no start turns, except for the race itself.

 

[palmerq]

I will try to remember to watch it next year.. Although I will probably forget.. The french racing scene seems to be pretty interesting.

btw the races website is pretty cool well it has nice artwork...

http://www.tro-bro-leon.com/

 

[rantanplan]

This race is amazing!

 

[ansimi]

Steephill has some video up now. It looks like a wonderful race. Great performance by Spidertech and especially nice to see the Canadian Champion jersey riding strong in Europe.