Weekend in Plouay - Goss and Pooley victorious
HTC-Columbia’s Matt Goss outsprinted Tyler Farrar in Plouay for his first Pro Tour win, at the Grand Prix Ouest France on Sunday. The Australian beat the Garmin-Transitions sprint specialist at the finish line, with Yoann Offredo of FDJ finishing third.
“Today I’ve proven I can race on this kind of circuit,” said Goss to Cyclingnews. “This was a very hard race on a typical world championship circuit. It’s good for my confidence. It’s nice to win after that distance on a hard course.”
The race was extended to 248km this year and ended in a group sprint. The eight-man second attack made it to 13.40 ahead of the bunch before Goss’s team managed to reel them in. Davide Appollonio and Dan Martin, both having very good seasons, tried a final attack before the bunch sprint, but it didn’t stick.
“The hardest thing for me was to wait and not attack,” said Offredo, the third place finisher. “I had seen in the final kilometres that a couple of sprinters were missing so I was hoping for a top ten but maybe not the top three. At the end I felt I was even able to pass Farrar.”
Farrar on the other hand wasn't as happy.
“The course here was on the limit for me,” said Farrar, disappointed with his second-place finish. “It was hard but I managed to survive. Matt Wilson and Murillo Fisher killed themselves for me. I was nervous and I went too early but Goss did a perfect sprint.”
The final event of the women’s World Cup was held the previous day in Plouay. Emma Pooley took a solo victory after an escape with Emma Johansson, Marianne Vos and Judith Arndt. Vos won the World Cup title for the third time with a second place behind Pooley in the final event. She has led the competition since the first race, in March. Johansson finished third, behind Kirsten Wild in second overall.
"I've worried all year about keeping the jersey and I'm relieved now," said Vos. "I was focused on the World Cup classification. However, I wanted to win the race too. When Emma Pooley attacked on the second climb of the circuit, I could just hold her wheel but when she went in the last hill, I had to let her go. She was too strong."
Vos first won the World Cup in 2007 and again in 2009, 21 points ahead of Johansson.
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