Dwars door Vlaanderen : natalie & marine at the front

Dwars door Vlaanderen is traditionally the dress rehearsal ahead of the Tour of Flanders, which takes place this Sunday. The Mayenne Monbana My Pie team therefore needed to show up just a few days before the “Ronde.” And they did so this Wednesday, thanks to Natalie Quinn’s breakaway and the team’s overall progress, illustrated by Marine Allione’s 30th-place finish.

On Wednesday morning, the objective was clear within the French ProTeam: get into the early breakaway. After several attempts, it was ultimately American rider Natalie Quinn who made the right move and found herself at the front of the race. With around 40 kilometers to go, the leading group was caught by a peloton that then split into several parts over the climbs and cobbled sectors. The world’s best riders moved to the front, leaving behind a group of around thirty riders, including Marine Allione and Natalie Quinn, who managed to hold on after her early effort. In the end, Marine’s Top 30 result leaves a positive feeling, even if the ambition to do better remains.

Franck Renimel, sports director. "This morning, the goal was to finish in the Top 20. We said that would be a very good result. We also wanted to be represented in the breakaway. The result with Marine and Natalie is positive in the sense that we can see progress. I hope it will help them in the upcoming races, especially on courses that may suit them better, to aim for an even stronger result. That’s how we need to look at it, more than the result itself, because finishing 30th in a WorldTour race is no small feat—but we are capable of better. On Sunday, at the Tour of Flanders, I think we’ll approach it with the same mindset. The atmosphere may be different, but this result will give them confidence. I hope we can do even better than today."

Marine Allione, 30th. "A Top 30 in a WorldTour race is good, but there’s still room for improvement. We’re progressing step by step, and we’ll see what comes next."

Natalie Quinn, 42nd. "Today a big goal of the team was a breakaway so everyone was very committed to making this happen. We covered attacks and also attacked. On one of my attacks, a small breakaway formed with three riders but we were quickly caught. There was a slight lull in the peloton and then an attack - I knew I needed to go with it because of how close my previous attempt was. Then the break formed. There was good cooperation in the break so it was just a matter of pushing as hard as we could for as long as we could. I was happy I could remain in the second group after a long breakaway."

Results :

30 - Marine Allione

42 - Natalie Quinn

59 - Fiona Mangan

63 - Constance Valentin

Photo credit : Arnaud Guillaume / Mayenne Monbana My Pie