"They just gamble" - Matteo Trentin benefits from odd tactics to conquer Paris-Tours

Matteo Trentin is a rider with plenty pro wins, including at the top level. But as the level in the peloton increased over the past years, netting big wins has become more and more complicated for the Italian classics specialist. But today, he took advantage of his climbing power, experience and sprinting ability to conquer Paris-Tours to close off his season.

Trentin had strong legs but even in the group that chased Paul Lapeira and Thibau Gruel there weren't too many chances of making the catch, but a standstill between the two saw more riders return. Trentin wouldn't ordinarily be the fastest in a pure sprint out of the group, but at the end of a very difficult race things change.

“No, in the last two or three kilometres, it can be that one of the two says, ‘I’m fucked, I prefer to be second than nothing.’ It didn’t happen, but both me and Laporte have a lot of experience, so we really kept pushing. And Philipsen, of course, he sits on the back, he’s the young guy coming up, so he kind of can do that. But on the last corner, they were really standing still, so that came in our favour," the Tudor Pro Cycling Team said in a post-race interview. Trentin then found his best legs in the final sprint to beat his rivals, closing off the 2025 season with a bang.

“No, it can happen. We have already seen so many races where maybe neither of the two are sure to win, and it comes to a moment where they just gamble. Actually, Lapeira also had Bissegger behind, which was better for me," he said, wondering about the tactics of the front duo which eventually saw the Trentin group enter the race for victory.