Huy (Belgium) (AFP)
Second in the Flèche Wallonne, the Frenchman Benoît Cosnefroy tasted his first podium all the more in a classic that it "makes him dream", delivered the puncheur of AG2R.
"It's a finish where everyone gives 100%, we see all the riders who arrive in a state of extreme fatigue," appreciates the one who wore the polka dot jersey for 15 days on the Tour de France.
"It's a classic that makes me dream and to be on the podium, I will appreciate it".
The puncher, who loves nothing more than short steep climbs, like those of the 2017 U21 World Championship course which crowned him in Bergen (Norway), or the final wall of Rocamadour where he won in early August during the Route d'Occitanie, had ticked the Flèche Wallonne well before the whirlwind of Covid-19.
"It was a race that was my goal at the start of the season, said the Frenchman. With this exceptional year, it was difficult to arrive here with the certainty of being well. (This podium) represents a lot, it is is one of the most beautiful classics for me ".
"I did not have the guarantees that my legs would hold but I was focused and I gave everything, says the Normand. I managed the climb by being in the front so as not to be surprised and to be master of my climb, not to suffer it by being blocked by adversaries ".
An ambitious tactical choice that allowed him to sign his first podium at World Tour level, less than two weeks after a Tour de France which revealed it to the general public with his series of 15 days in the polka dot jersey.
Coming out of this particularly tiring Big Loop, Cosnefroy made "small outings" with the objective of "not releasing the pressure at the end of the season": "I don't have long to hold on", he observes .
Even less since the cancellation of its last event: the Amstel Gold Race scheduled for October 10.
His last race in 2020 could therefore be Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
A French victory in the Doyenne has been expected for forty years and a success for Bernard Hinault in the snow in 1980.
© 2020 AFP