Pre-Race Meeting:
While less mountainous than the Ruta Del Sol, le Tour de La Provence was the riders final warm up race before the Paris-Nice so we would be racing hard over the next few days. A lot of climbing to be done today, with the biggest climb coming halfway through the stage as the riders ascend the category 1 Col d'Espigoulier, however with the bulk of the climbing being done early in the stage it ws more a day for the strong men than the pure climbers. However there was enough climbing to interest out team, and we would certainly be looking to get a rider into the days break.

Pre-Race Meeting:
After yesterdays perfect start to the race, we go into stage 2 with all four jerseys – although of course John Gadret won't be wearing the Points jersey today. I think it's fair to say we won't have all four by the end of todays stage. A much flatter stage than yesterday, we will use this as a recovery stage for our climbers, with Monier and Paillot controlling any breakaway that attempts to get away.

sutty68 wrote:
Great first stage for Gadret, now just defend the final stage for the Overall victory

sutty68 wrote:
Enjoy the break

Pre-Race Meeting:
With John Gadret sitting in 1st place heading into todays final stage, our only aim for today was to ensure he remained in the jersey at the end of the day! Unfortunately yesterdays efforts had taken a lot out of the guys legs. Knowing the rest of the peleton would look to us to do all the work today, we decided to try and get a man in the break to put the imputus back on the sprinters teams and try to save some of our guys legs.

After a series of stage races, we return to the one day classics at the Classic Sud-Ardèche! A hilly route, it could favour the sort of move that has served Julien El-Flares well in the past few weeks. If it does come down to a bunch sprint, we hope Yannick Martinez will still be in the lead group and contending for the victory!

sutty68 wrote:
Nice top five for Damuseau to help him keep the mountains jersey , and glad you enjoyed Spain

D. Rosa

E. Gasparatto

E. Jeannesson

D. Ulissi

Pre-Race Meeting:
The Classic Sud-Ardèche was a hilly classic, with a profile suited to the climbers more than the pure sprinters. However the downhill finish meant that it wasn't a race just for the climbers. If Yannick Martinez could get over the hills and hold onto the main group he would likely be one of the better sprinters left in the field and have a great chance of victory. Guys like Julien El-Flares would also look to be aggressive, as the riders changed their mentality back from stage races to classics mode.

With the classics bumpy route, a breakaway was inevitable and Sylvain Georges managed to get in the 8 man group that formed ahead of the peleton. The group was nearly 8 minutes ahead at one point, but once the peleton cranked up the chase the breakaways legs didn't have the power to put up much of a fight and the catch was made with 25km to go.

At this stage we still had four men in the lead group of 90 riders, with Yannick Martinez, Julien El-Flares, and their helpers Guillaume Levarlet and Romain Bacon riding well. The group thinned further to around 50 riders at the top of the final climb, with El-Flares, Levarlet and, most importantly, Martinez still in touch. Unfortunately Martinez had slipped towards the back of the group and had a lot of ground to make up on the descent. With the help of first Levarlet and then El-Flares, Martinez was able to get himself to around 10th wheel with 3km to go.

The sprint was opening up and Martinez still had a lot of ground to make up, however on paper he was the best sprinter in the group. He launched himself down the right hand side of the road and looked to be making up ground, but unfortnately found himself slightly boxed in as the sprint ahead of him moved over to the right hand side. Ultimately Martinez had left himself too much to do as he rolled in a creditable 5th place as Miguel-Angel Lopez (Astana) took the victory ahead of Carlos Bentacur (Movistar) and Arnold Jeannesson (Cofidis).

sutty68 wrote:
Nice placing for Martinez

Shonak wrote:
Some great results lately, especially Gadret nailed it there.

The second half of le Boucles du Sud Ardèche, we would be using the same team for La Drôme Classic as yesterdays Classic Sud Ardèche. A slightly less bumpy route than yesterday, that may be more open to a move from someone like Julien El-Flares. If things stay together, we would be looking for team leader Yannick Martinez to once again deliver a result for us!

Pre-Race Meeting:
After a strong performance from Yannick Martinez yesterday the team arrived at La Drôme Classic in good spirits. We believed that todays slightly flatter profile would suit our riders better than the hillier profile at yesterdays Classic Sud Ardèche. After a decent performance yesterday, Julien El-Flares would be looking for an opportunity to attack on todays gentler terrain.

While the team had targeted today as the easier stage of the weekend, it proved to be anything but! Perhaps it was tired legs from the last few weeks of riding this team has done, but the first major climb of the day knocked out all but 3 of our team from the front group. By the final major climb with 20 km still to go Yannick Martinez was also off the back, leaving just Guillaume Levarlet and Julien El-Flares in the main pack.

The days breakaway had fragmented on the climb, but there were still 5 men spread across the road ahead of the peleton (which was now down to ~40 riders). Levarlet did a great job moving El-Flares back through the pack after the final major incline to get El-Flares, our last hope for a result, back into the race. By the 5 km to go banner the slimmed down peleton had swept up the remnants of the days breakaway and looked set to contest the days stage in a sprint.

However around 4 km out the race hit a very short, very steep climb (<10%). Julien El-Flares used this as a launch pad for his attack. He managed to force a small gap on the short incline, and solidified his advantage on the very steep descent. His daredevil move had earned his ~20 seconds with only 3 km to go! He had caught the pack completely off guard, and nobody was able to pull him back as El-Flares held his 20 second advantage to secure an opportunistic victory and round off a very successful month for the team!

Taken from CyclingNews.com

Date: March 1, 2016
Category: Adrien Petit; Team BPCE-Natixis; Cobbles Classics

Team BPCE-Natixis have made a strong start to their debut season on the Continental Pro-Tour, scoring 6 victories in February and sitting 2nd in the Continental Tour Rankings less than 50 points behind the well established Cofidis. However one notable feature of Team BPCE-Natixis' season to date has been the absence of their team leader Adrien Petit. Revealed as their Marquee signing back in December, Adrien Petit was the signing that sent a message to the cycling world that BPCE-Natixis were serious. However Adrien Petit has been conspicuous by his absence this season, and is yet to race for his new team.

However Petit was yesterday spotted in Oudenaarde, Belgium where, according to our source, he was taking part in a team training session on the areas cobblestones. Teammates Steve Chainel, Lloyd Mondory, Denis Flahaut, Benoit Jarrier and Tanguy Turgis were reported to have joing Petit on the training camp, leading many to speculate that Petit would be leading the team throughout the Spring Classics.

Petit's skill on the cobbles was showcased as he won the Tro Bro Léon in 2014, and with team sponsors reportedly looking for a strong showing in this years Paris-Roubaix perhaps Petit has been earmarked by team management as the man to deliver this result? Whatever the teams plans for Petit, we can be sure that we will see him make his debut for the team in the coming weeks.

Taken from CyclingNews.com

Date: March 1, 2016
Category: Adrien Petit; Team BPCE-Natixis; Cobbles Classics

Team BPCE-Natixis have made a strong start to their debut season on the Continental Pro-Tour, scoring 6 victories in February and sitting 2nd in the Continental Tour Rankings less than 50 points behind the well established Cofidis. However one notable feature of Team BPCE-Natixis' season to date has been the absence of their team leader Adrien Petit. Revealed as their Marquee signing back in December, Adrien Petit was the signing that sent a message to the cycling world that BPCE-Natixis were serious. However Adrien Petit has been conspicuous by his absence this season, and is yet to race for his new team.

However Petit was yesterday spotted in Oudenaarde, Belgium where, according to our source, he was taking part in a team training session on the areas cobblestones. Teammates Steve Chainel, Lloyd Mondory, Denis Flahaut, Benoit Jarrier and Tanguy Turgis were reported to have joing Petit on the training camp, leading many to speculate that Petit would be leading the team throughout the Spring Classics.

Petit's skill on the cobbles was showcased as he won the Tro Bro Léon in 2014, and with team sponsors reportedly looking for a strong showing in this years Paris-Roubaix perhaps Petit has been earmarked by team management as the man to deliver this result? Whatever the teams plans for Petit, we can be sure that we will see him make his debut for the team in the coming weeks.