Tro-Bro Léon 2025

May 11, 2025 The 203KM race around Lannilis is famous for the ribinoùs which are gravel tracks through the fields of Brittany as well as giving away a piglet for the best Breton finisher. There are 29 sectors, the first of which comes just 35KM into the race. They are peppered throughout the next 100KM but the gravel comes much more frequently with 65KM to go as they approach the finish line for the first of three times. Much like the classics of De Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, positioning is very important going into each sector and it becomes an elimination race from the back that makes the selections. Rain was pouring down at the start which would make the gravel tracks quite muddy. Seven riders made the break including Victor Van de Putte of Lotto, Baptiste Vadic of TotalEnergies, Fabian Lienhard of Tudor Pro Cycling, Sergio Meris of Unibet-Tietema Rockets, Hugo de la Calle of Burgos-Burpellet BH, Axel Mariault of CIC-U Nantes, and Rudy Molard of Groupama-FDJ. They had a maximum advantage of 4 minutes but with 72KM to go, it was down to 90 seconds with XDS-Astana mobbing the front of the peloton. The break started sector 18 (Kerizog) with 62.5KM to go and mud was flying from the back of the motor bike. The race exploded on this sector. There were a few crashes and Decathlon AG2R had taken over and put the hammer down. At the front, only Lienhard, Meris, and de la Calle were left after sector 17 (Kroaz Edern) with the bunch, which was reduced to about 50 riders, around 25 seconds behind. Bastien Tronchon of Decathlon AG2R bridged to the breakaway with 56.5KM to go right before sector 15 (Ranorgat). The race resettled on the rolling roads passed the village of Derbez and across the river Aber Wrac'h. The peloton got within 10 seconds of the break but Tronchon pressed on and hit sector 14 of Misheul at full speed. Only de la Calle stayed with Tronchon out of Misheul but they still only had around 15 seconds as they passed through the finish line with 46.5KM to go. It wasn't long after the start of sector 13 (Kerosven) that Tronchon was solo at the front of the race. The bunch were still relatively relaxed which allowed Cees Bol of XDS-Astana to chip off in pursuit of Tronchon. In an unfortunate moment at the start of sector 11 (Keradraon), Tronchon took a wrong turn into a private driveway and off the course. Bol and de la Calle caught and passed Tronchon before he got himself turned back around. The three came together before the end of Keradraon but their lead was still tenuous at around 20 seconds to just over a dozen chasers. The race was back together with 35.5KM to go just as the broadcast lost all images of the race. We believe Tronchon had a mechanical and was dropped from the main favorites group. When pictures came back, Fred Wright of Bahrain Victorious was on the attack with a 15 seconds lead on the chase group of 12 with 24KM to go as they hit sector 8 (Odé Bri). Valentin Madouas of Groupama-FDJ bridged up to Wright but the rest of the group caught back on a few kilometers later. Riley Sheehan of Israel-Premier Tech took a hard fall in the front group when his front wheel washed out from under him on a left turn. He was sitting second wheel which left Kévin Vauquelin of Arkéa-B&B Hotels with a free gap on the rest of the riders as he started sector 7 (Ty Laouen). Vauquelin punctured with 18.5KM to go and Fredrik Dversnes of Uno-X Mobility sailed passed him to take the lead. With 16KM to go just before another passage of Misheul, Dversnes was out front with a chase group 5 riders around 10 seconds behind. A group of 6 were another 10 seconds back and Tronchon had picked up Vauquelin and that pair were an additional 15-20 seconds behind. With 10KM to go, the three chase groups all came together on sector 3 (Guillec) but Dversnes had extended his advantage to 35 seconds. Over the hill on sector 2 (Keradraon) and through great crowds, despite the rain, Tronchon pulled three riders clear of the rest including his teammate Pierre Gautherat, Anthony Turgis of TotalEnergies, and Madouas. It was difficult to see what happened but Madouas slowed way down which blocked Turgis and the two Decathlon AG2R riders were clear. They caught Dversnes with 6KM to go but disaster struck for the Norwegian 1KM later. On a roundabout, Dversnes's front wheel lost grip and he went down. He got up quickly but Tronchon was on a day that a rider only gets a few times in their career. He was so strong and kept powering forward to pull the Decathlon AG2R duo further away from the rest. They went through Misheul for the final time at 2.5KM to go without incident and the pair came to the finish together in a moment just as the sun peeked out from the storm clouds. Tronchon went ahead to take the victory hand in hand with Gautherat. Madouas won the sprint with Turgis to take third place. Madouas was the best Breton finisher and was awarded the piglet, named Léon, from the race organizers. It was truly and epic day that few will forget soon.