Hello!! My name is Brice Feillu and welcome to my story as I cycle across Europe in the 2014 Pro Cycling Season. I am so very excited to have you along for the ride!
For those of you who do not know much of my career, this is my 6th year as a professional cyclist, and this season will be my first season riding for UCI Professional Continental team, Bretagne-Seche Environnement. I turned professional in 2009, with the Agritubel team, in that season, I won a mountain stage of the Tour de France at Andorra-Arcalis, and finished 23rd overall. Immediately following my victory, the French media proclaimed me as the next French winner of the Tour de France. Unfortunately, I have struggled both finding a team, and earning results in the following years. The Tour stage victory remains my only win as a professional.
At the end of 2013 my Sojasun team folded leaving me scrambling for a contract. Luckily for me Bretagne came through and offered me a contract and a spot as a leader in their team. They also have signed my brother, Romain, to be the team's primary sprinter. I am super excited to ride with my brother again, he is in a similar situation to me, one where results are vital, for us to continue in cycling. My brother and I are kind of polar opposites on the bike, Romain is a sprinter, a fast man, whilst I am a climber, one who lives for the mountains. We will both do whatever we can to help each other win this season, and make our "return" a successful one. Here we are at the team presentation:
This season, I have outlined a series of 5 primary goals for myself: #1.) Win a stage of the Tour de France and finish in the Top 15 of the overall GC
#2.) Win the overall of a stage race
#3.) Win at least 3 races
#4.) Help my brother win at least 3 races
#5.) Finish in the Top 10 of Paris-Nice and the Dauphine
I am very excited for the season, and I cannot wait to start racing, I am beginning my competition schedule at the GP de Marseille in late January which will be followed up by the Etoile de Besseges and Tour Mediterranean, after those races I will sit down with the team and finalize my schedule for the remained of the season.
I cannot wait to start racing, and I am looking forward to keeping you updated on my results all throughout 2014.
@jihardy and @SSJ2Luigi: thanks for following guys!
Welcome to my first race of the 2014 season and my first race with Bretagne-Seche. Today is the hilly semi-classic, the GP de la Marseille, a race for the barodours, or even the sprinters who can survive the hills. Today we will be trying to set it up for my brother Romain, or our #2 option, Clement Koretsky.
I am so excited to start and the team has given me the "leader" role as I will be wearing bib #141!
The early break of the day contained my teammate!
A 3 man break was quickly established, and we were able to get our man Christophe Laborie into it, he was joined by Marko Kump from Tinkoff, and Jay Thomson of MTN, immediately they opened up a gap of 6 minutes. Unfortunately I had my first fall of the season about 45 KM into the race, I touched wheels with Coppel from Cofidis and down I went luckily for me the result of it was just a torn jersey and some road rash, but the chase was on to get back to the peloton. My crash! OUCH!!! And my furious chase back to the peloton
I was able to catch back on and after a few kilometers I was feeling good as new.
Laborie was the last of the break to be caught with just 7KM to go and immediately I had a go!
Unfortunately I was one attack too soon as I was quickly brought back and Rebellin (CCC), Polanc (LAM), and Nicki Sorensen (TST) took off and immediately it was clear that one of the three would win. Sorensen was relentless and quickly dropped his two fellow attackers and went at it alone, meanwhile the chase group of 20 riders including Romain, Clement, and myself began to set up the sprint for the minor placings.
Sorensen soloed across the line for the win, but Rebellin and Polanc were in our gunsights, as we tried to get Romain on the podium....
Well we got one of the two! Polanc was able to hold on for 2nd, but Romain got 3rd!! A great result, he was able to catch Rebelllin right on the line, and he held off a fierce charge from Porsev of Katusha. I finished up in 10th, a top 10 in my first race, no complaints from me! Quite a successful day for our team! We were disappointed that we could not be sprinting for the win, but disappointment over a podium place is a good thing, and we are hungry for more this season!
We are very proud as a team of our day, we had a rider in the early break, we had 3 in the leading group at the end, and we managed to get a podium place, and another top 10, a very successful start to our season! I will be riding the Etoile de Besseges stage race next and will be looking to make the breaks, and possibly stealing a stage win!
Thanks for joining me today and I will talk to you soon!
Welcome to the 2014 Etoile de Besseges, my first stage race of the year, if you're like me you're looking for excitement, and climbs, and exciting TT's, well sadly this race wont provide that. This has 5 pancake flat stages, with one final TT that has a 1Km uphill kick. We will be trying to set up Romain for stage victories, and I will be trying to go for a win out of a breakaway with many TT specialists here to steal overall victory.
Favorites:
*** Debusschere, Lobato, Pelluchi
** R. Feillu, Sutton, Petit
* Boeckmans, Swift, Ahlstrand
As we rolled off on this cold February morning, a 3 rider break went clear and gained a max advantage of 7'. The break featured:
Clement Venturini- Cofidis
Rudy Kowalski- Roubaix Lille Metropole Pierre-Luc Perichon- Bretagne
Pierre-Luc was able to summit the only two categorized climbs of the day first so he will pull on the first KoM jersey of the race, a great prize for us!!
As the break was wound in with 15k, Lotto and Movistar began to set up for the sprint, Lotto strong man Tony Gallopin, took a fierce pull on the front and split the field into two major groups, the lead group that featured myself, and Romain, totaling 43 riders, and the rest of the field. Unfortunately due to Gallopin's pull Romain did not have much in the legs for the sprint, however nobody really did and in the end it was IAM's Matteo Pelluchi catching and passing Lotto's Kris Boeckmans who tried a long range attack, in the final 150 meters and claiming the victory! Romain was able to manage 5th, a bit disappointing for him, but he was able to smile about a strong result and he will expect more when he's at full strength! Tomorrow we will try to control the finale for him. Meanwhile I was able to roll home 29th on the same time, a successful day for me!
Because of the split in the peloton many TT Specialists, like Macej Bodnar, Tom Dumoulin, Taylor Phinney, and Sylvain Chavanel rolled home in excess of 4’ down, which means that even though my TT skills are not elite, I believe I have a strong chance at a Top 10 overall! However, that does not change my strategy of trying to win from breaks, and set up Romain!
Overall it was a successful day for us! We had a rider in the break, got the KoM jersey, had a top 5 finisher, and won the team prize for the day, a solid day, but we are hungry for much more. Hopefully tomorrow we can achieve that more, and get Romain a stage victory, and I again will be trying to chase the breaks! Can’t wait to talk to you all again soon!
Welcome to stage 2 of the Etoile de Besseges, today’s stage will again end in a bunch sprint, however today’s finish has a small climb in the final 2km which could cancel out the hopes of the pure sprinters, like my brother Romain. Today I have been given the freedom to go pursue the breakaway and I have decided to do so, I hope we can make the move stick all the way to the end, but either way, I hope to gain some bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint and show our team at the front.
As we rolled off today, I had keen eyes to stay at the front of the field and follow as many attacks as I could to make sure I was in the days breakaway, and after a few unsuccessful digs, I was able to make my way into an 11 man move that included:
Unfortunately, with Vilella and myself only 20’’ down IAM pushed the chase and reeled us back in, however I decided to have another go, and off I went on my own. Unfortunately nobody followed me and it was a Tony Martin like breakaway, with 105KM ahead of me and nobody to help me.
I clamied maximum points at the top of the days two climbs which ensured that Pierre-Luc Perichon would keep his KoM jersey for another day. I then was able to take 6’’ by winning the intermediate sprint, which hopefully will be decisive when the race comes to a close.
I reached a maximum advantage of 6’00’’ with 50KM to go, but the gap began to shoot down when FDJ took to the front, so I decided to conserve energy and coast back to the peloton so I hopefully could finish on the same time as the days winner, and I eventually was caught with 22KM to go.
We took to the front trying to set up Romain, and he was in a great position in the closing 3KM, but the hill in the final KM’s really drained him and took away his shot of victory, so he had to settle for minor placings. Up front Anthony Roux of FDJ was able to pip Europcar’s Jimmy Engoulvent for the stage victory. While I finished up 65th on the same time as Roux, a successful day for me, although I rue the lack of help, because I felt strong and possibly could have made it to the end with 1 or 2 others collaborating with me. Oh well, I will try again another day! Tomorrow certainly will not be a day for me in the break so I will take it easy in the peloton and prepare for another day.
Stage Results:
1.) Anthony Roux-FDJ-3h28’06’’
2.) Jimmy Engoulvent-Europcar- st
3.) Leonardo Duque- Columbia- st
4.) RJ van Rensburg-Giant-Shimano- st
5.) Christopher Sutton- SKY- st
…
11.) Romain Feillu- Bretagne-st
65.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- st
GC:
1.) Matteo Pelucchi-IAM- 6h54’35’’
2.) Anthony Roux-FDJ-st
3.) Jimmy Engoulvent- Europcar- +8’’
4.) Kris Boeckmans- Lotto- st
5.) Christopher Sutton-SKY- +12’’
6.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- +14’’
7.) Romain Feillu- Bretagne- +16’’
Today was a tough day for me, being alone off the front by myself for over 80KM, takes a toll on the body, but I am very proud of my day today. I was able to gain a little bit of prize money for the sprints, and I was able to move up to 6th on the GC, hopefully I can have another go at a break, but I fear that my high place on the GC will not allow me to get in the breaks from here on out, however I am optimistic for the rest of the race, and I believe that I will turn in a solid performance and bring a top 10 out of this race. I am not looking forward to tomorrows stage because I will be exteremely tired, but I have to do my team and brotherly duty and try to get us a win. Wish us luck!!
Stage 3 of the Etoile de Besseges is more of the same as the first two days, a bunch sprint is expected and today we will be working for Florian Vachon in the sprint, as Romain is at a -5 for the day. Unfortunately his race has not gone as he expected but we will allow him to rest today and then go back to going for the sprint tomorrow.
Today we again put Pierre-Luc Perichon into the break, the goal was to get him the maximum King of the mountain points so he could cement his jersey with only one day of climbs left. He was joined by 6 others:
Goncalves- Le Pomme Marseille
Duval- Roubaix-Lille
Reimer-MTN
Juraj Sagan-Cannondale
Kurek-CCC Polsat
Tanner-Christina Watches
Perichon won each checkpoint on the day, all 3 moiuntain climbs, and both intermediate sprints which will give him a nice amount of prize money in the bank and that will please our sponsors and team management. The breakaway posed no threat to Matteo Pelucchi’s lead, as Perichon was the highest placed rider, 46th @ 4’49’’ The break was allowed a 8’00’’ leash and the break was only pulled in with 5KM to go.
In the sprint we placed Vachon right on the wheel of Pelucchi and in the finale RJ Van Reinsburg went long range attacking with 2KM to go and he was not to be seen again, claiming an easy victory ahead of Debuscherre, and Sutton. Vachon managed a solid 5th and even Romain made an appearance in 10th despite not putting much effort in the sprint, a good sign even on a bad day for him.
Stage:
1.) RJ Van Rensburg-Giant- 3h49’25’’
2.) Jens Debuscherre- st
3.) Chris Sutton- Sky-st
4.) Alexi Tsatevich- Katusha- st
5.) Florian Vachon- Bretagne- st
….
43.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- st
GC:
1) Matteo Pelucchi- IAM- 10h44’00’’
2.) Anthony Roux- FDJ- st
3) Chris Sutton- Sky- +4’’
4.) Jens Debuscherre- Lotto- +8’’
5.) Jimmy Engoulvent- Europcar- st
6.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- +14’’
7.) Romain Feillu Bretagne- +16’’
Points: Chris Sutton- 44 Points
KoM: Pierre-Luc Perichon- Bretagne- 74 points
U25: Matteo Pelucchi- IAM- 10h44’00’’
Team: Movistar- 32h13’01’’
Stage 4 is another flat day, it has a number of unrated climbs, so its possible that a breakaway could go the distance if it poses no threat to the overall lead of Pelucchi, so per usual we will be putting a man in the move. I wont even try today as I know my high standing on the GC wont let me escape, so we will send another up the road.
It was another cold start to the day as we rolled out in the French countryside.
Blel Kadri of AG2R was the first to make a move today and it drew out 3 others to go with him:
Dassonville- Auber 93
Lang- IAM
Piedra- Caja Rural
We decided to have Arnaud Gerard chase to get in the move, Gerard who was 190th in the GC 21’38’’ down after a cold held him back in the early parts of the race was allowed to get free with no resistance. Unfortunately Lang, from IAM was only 1’24’’ down on his teammate Pelucchi in the overall, so he would not collaborate and IAM kept the 5 on a tight leash only giving them a 5’30’’ advantage. Gerard however took advantage of his time in the break and claimed 2 sprint point victories, and 2 mountain victories, thus confirming Perichon’s victory in the KoM classification
We were setting up R. Feillu again, he was feeling much better today, and had the confidence to go for gold today. Clement Koretzky led him out perfectly in the finale, but unfortunately Jens Debuscherre from Lotto was much too strong for everybody and he claimed a solid victory ahead of Duque, and Ferrari, while Romain slid to 4th, unfortunately the camera man was absent at the finish (whoops!)
Stage:
1.) Jens Debusschere- Lotto- 3h41’42’’
2.) Leonardo Duque- Columbia- st
3.) Roberto Ferrari- Lampre- st
4.) Romain Feillu- Bretagne- st
5.) RJ Van Rensburg- Giant- st
…
104.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- st
GC:
1.) Jens Debusschere- Lotto- 14h25’29’’
2.) Matteo Pelucchi- IAM-+12’’
3.) Anthony Roux- FDJ.fr- st’
4.) Chris Sutto- Sky- +16’’
5.) Jimmy Engoulvent- Europcar- +20’’
6.) Brice Feillu- Bretagne- +26’’
7.) Romain Feillu- Bretagne- +28’’
Points:
Jens Debusschere- Lotto- 58 points
KoM: Pierre-Luc Perichon- Bretagne 74 points
U25: Jens Debusschere- Lotto- 3h41’42’’
Team: Movistar- 40h26’57’’
Another quiet day in the peloton for me, but our team was making lots of noise again which is a great thing! We are getting so close to a victory and it is a bit painful to have it slip through our grasp but we are confient it will come tomorrow and one of our sprinters can finish the deal! For me tomorrows short stage is all about resting up for the afternoon TT and making sure that I lose no time and can come out guns blazing for a top 5. I can’t wait to tell you how the race wraps up!
Stage 5 of Besseges is the shortest stage of the race, one that looks tailor-made for a bunch sprint today, however with it being a short stage, a breakaway could succeed, so again the attacking team we are will be on the prowl looking for the move of the day, yet again. For me it is important to keep in touch with the main group and finish with the same time so that I can compete with the leaders for the overall win in the TT later on in the day.
With it being such a short day the attacks came fast and furious from the drop of the green flag, and quickly a large group of 13 formed and gained a maximum advantage of 1’45’’ We were able to get Gerard in the break for the second straight day, and he was joined by our primary lead out man, Florian Vachon, the rest of the 13 man break contained:
Zaballa- Christina Watches
Kadri- AG2R
Valgren-Tinkoff-Saxo
Isaychev-Katusha
King-Cannondale
Lastras-Movistar
Paterski-CCC Polsat
Van Hecke-TopSport
Madrazo-Caja Rural
Arango- Columbia
Russom-MTN
Because the group was so big, the lead began to shrink quickly, and despite the efforts by Gerard the gap was down to 15’’ with 30 km to go. That’s when Vachon decided to have a solo go at it, and he was given quite the leash, by himself he got out to a 2’30’’ lead. With 10k to go he still had 1’15’’ but just in case we got our lead out set for Romain.
With 5km to go Vachon still had 45’’ it was definitely going to be close on the line! We had Romain wheel-suck so we did no work in the peloton, hoping that Florian could hold on. Debusschere opened the sprint up with Lobato and they came fast and furious at Vachon……could he hold on??
YES!!!! It was too little too late from the yellow jersey, as Florian Vachon holds on to win the 5th stage of the Etoile de Besseges, Bretagne-Seche Environnement’s first victory of the season, and how fitting it comes from a breakaway! Debusschere took second ahead of Lobato, Romain managed to get 3rd in the bunch sprint, 4th overall, another solid finish for Romain, as he comes into form, the victories will soon come! 1st and 4th a great day for us! We CAN play with the big boys!
Stage:
1.) Florian Vachon-Bretagne-1h33’10’’
2.) Jens Debusschere- Lotto- st
3.) Juanjo Lobato- Movistar- st
4.) Romain Feillu- Bretagne- st
5.) Samuel Dumoulin- AG2R- st
…
37.) Brice Feillu-Bretagne-st Everybody loves Podium kisses!
“Wow, what an incredible victory! I cant believe that I was able to hold off the peloton for nearly 30KM and win by the narrowest of margins, this is one of my finest victories of my career! I’m super excited to have Bretagne’s first victory this season, and I only know that this will lead to many victories for this team! Personally, I hope to continue this form throughout the season, and I hope that I can earn a Tour de France spot this season and compete for victories there too! Later on today, I hope to ride a good TT and finish with a spot in the top 20 overall, we are hoping Brice Feillu can ride a top 5 or at the least a top 10, that would really make for a successful race for us! Regardless of what happens, we proved we can succeed with the big leaguers and that will give us great confidence heading into the rest of the season!” Florian gets the headline!
I agree completely with what Florian said, and I hope that the victories flow like the champagne we will have tonight! I cant wait to get out there in a few hours and TT and hopefully I can show well against some great TT riders and prove that I truly am back this season! I will write you soon and let you know how this great race finishes up, and then the celebration will begin for us and hopefully for you our fans as well!
gosaursojasun1256 wrote:
Also, if someone could tell me how to get rid of the green circles in this years edition that would be great! I hate those pesky things!!!
in my game it's the ' button, next to the enter button. it also removes the names though
season started well with that 3rd place and now a stage win. good seasons start it say.
@sutty68, @SSJ2Luigi- thanks for supporting guys!
@-The Schleck Fan- thanks, and yeah they lost the spots because of the bonus time to Lobato and Vachon, but they didn't lose any real time, so I'm not too worried about it!
TT report and Tour Med preview will be up shortly! Thanks everyone for following!
gosaursojasun1256 wrote:
@sutty68, @SSJ2Luigi- thanks for supporting guys!
@-The Schleck Fan- thanks, and yeah they lost the spots because of the bonus time to Lobato and Vachon, but they didn't lose any real time, so I'm not too worried about it!
Welcome to the final stage here in Besseges, a 10.1km time trial from Ales to St. Raby, the first 9km are very flat, but the final kilometer kicks upward and finishes on the top of the hill that has a maximum slope of over 7%. I hope to make up any lost time on the hill, and am shooting for a solid effort that will put me up in the top 5 overall or at the least keeps me in the top 10.
Favorites:
***- L.L Sanchez, G. Larsson, Kiryienka
**- Roux, Le Bon, Ignatiev
*- Vandewalle, Sergent, J.I. Gutierrez
Loic Pestiaux from the Wallonie-Bruxlles team-37’57’’ down on GC at the beginning of the day was the first to set off under sunny skies. He set the early marker with a very respectable 17’25’’ however that surely will not hold up once the big guns roll down the starting ramp.
Our Arnaud Gerard set the new best time at a 17’15’’ however he was quickly overtaken by Kiwi TT Specialist Jesse Sergent who broke the 17’ mark with a 16’55’’
Sergent’s time held for well over an hour, until surprising Spaniard Ruben Plaza blasted his time with a 16’42’’.
As I rolled out, I was encouraged to see my name on the road, a little extra motivation for me, as if I needed any!
At the intermediate checkpoint I was very mid pack setting the 47th best time, but I knew that I could make time on the final climb and I was saving some energy for that. As I began the final climb I went full broil and nearly caught my minute man, my brother, and when I rolled across the line I had set the 17th best time at a 16’59’’, a very solid effort for me, as I was able to beat TT specialists like Phinney, Larsson, Kiryienka, Bak, and Joeaar.
As the riders wound down, I was biting my nails to see whether I would hold my Top 10 place and as the yellow jersey of Debusschere’s time went past mine I breathed a sigh of relieve, knowing that I would and I smiled knowing that I was able to achieve a goal of mine! In other team news
Debusschere was able to hold his jersey by a mere 1’’ over our very own Florian Vachon, who put in a sterling TT effort of 8th place after his morning win! Plaza the stage winner finished 3rd overall at 2’’ down. I was able to finish the race 10th overall 21’’ down in the overall.
With my first stage race in the books, I am very pleased with my effort, a 10th place overall in a race that does not suit my style of racing at all is a good sign for the season. My TT effort was good by my standards, I believe that I have definitely improved in the discipline and I can only hope to get more and more confident in it as the season goes on. I was a little disappointed to lose 2 spots on the final stage, but it was almost to be expected with the bevy of great TT riders in the field. As a team we are over the moon with our race, we were able to win a stage, win the KoM jersey, place 3 riders in the top 10 of the overall, finish in the top 10 in nearly each stage, and make each decisive breakaway of the race, a great showing for us. As I look forward I have about 3 days off before I tackle the 5 stage Tour Med. It has 2 flat stages, 1 TT, 1 classic-type stage, and the final stage that finishes on top of Mont Faron. With my form the way that it is, anything less than a podium placing on the GC is a failure to me, I expect to win the Mont Faron stage, and contend for the overall, this race is very important to me and it will be a good indication of how I am going early in the season, and how I am climbing. Wish me luck as I head into the race!
Good 10th place for Brice Feillu.
But Vachon missed the win by 1 seconds.Still an impressive performance from him
And good luck in Tour de Mediterranean
Edited by Forever the Best on 15-07-2014 08:28
luckily for me the result of it was just a torn jersey and some road rash, but the chase was on to get back to the peloton. 
A great result, he was able to catch Rebelllin right on the line, and he held off a fierce charge from Porsev of Katusha. I finished up in 10th, a top 10 in my first race, no complaints from me! Quite a successful day for our team! We were disappointed that we could not be sprinting for the win, but disappointment over a podium place is a good thing, and we are hungry for more this season! 
