France had several cards to play at today's World Championships, and they certainly gave it their best shot playing with their depth. Although they've achieved a silver medal, there was a feeling of discontent with the lack of the win after such an aggressive race.
After the race finished, Voeckler told Eurosport/GCN that "sometimes we make plans, it goes as planned. Other times it starts to go as planned and then it doesn't. You have to recognize one thing: the fittest wins." He was clear however that little could be done against Remco Evenepoel: "You can shoot the race in any sense, Evenepoel was unbeatable."
France was in the moves early on with Romain Bardet attacking the ascent to Mount Keira, and Pavel Sivakov eventually getting himself in the large 16-rider breakaway. The team had three riders in the large group that went off into victory, whilst behind Valentin Madouas also worked to try and limit the gap, as France did not have it's main cards at the front.
Eventually, the peloton managed to bring back all riders but eventual winner Remco Evenepoel, and the team could do a strong leadout for Christophe Laporte who sprinted to second place. After two seasons with the rainbow jersey however, the French now return to a position of trying to recover what was once theirs in the coming year.
Voeckler: "Parfois, on fait des plans, ça se passe comme prévu. D'autres fois, ça commence à se passer comme prévu et ensuite non. Il faut reconnaître une chose: le plus fort a gagné. On peut tourner la course dans tous les sens, Evenepoel était injouable." #Wollongong2022
