Benoît Cosnefroy wins once again after difficult period of injury - "I understand his tears"

Benoît Cosnefroy is one of the few pure puncheurs that remain at the top of the peloton, and in the French domestic is where he obtains most of his victories. Hence, it was a fitting return to his winning ways yesterday at the Grand Prix du Morbihan, only a few weeks after starting his 2025 season.

"It is symbolic that I win here for the third time, it is so satisfying. Afterwards you realise how many months of work have been put into getting back. I have been suffering for eight months and all those emotions are now coming back," Cosnefroy told L'Équipe. "I knew I would return, but I did not know how long it would take before I would be back to my level".

Cosnefroy has won the French classic now for a third time in a row, but this one came as more of a surprise than in the past. A knee injury wrecked Cosnefroy's entire spring, and he was only able to begin his season at the Tour de Romandie in late April. He was close to taking a win at the Boucles de l'Aulne a few days ago (he was second to Lewis Askey), but in the hilltop finish in Morbihan he was able to seal it off.

"I have never been silent in interviews and I knew that the hard work would pay off, but I did not expect it to happen so quickly. I could not have wished for a better return," the 29-year old added, with the Tour de France likely back in his objective list - specially with several punchy finishes in the first week.

Teammate and French national champion Paul Lapeira was also understanding of the meaning of this victory, even if in a small race: "I understand his tears, Benoît has been through difficult times. But that shows that we are not robots.' Sports director Cyril Dessel calls him 'one of the best punchers in the world'. 'This is not an achievement, but a huge achievement.'