Nokere, a lesson for the future

This Wednesday, the Nokere Koerse did not reflect the best performance of Mayenne Monbana My Pie. The race scenario did not prove favourable to the French ProTeam, which had two riders at the finish: Fiona Mangan in 49th place and Natalie Quinn in 68th.

Under spring-like weather conditions, Nokere Koerse marked another step in the Belgian classics campaign. Unlike the previous race in Oetingen, the cobbled sectors remained dry. Nevertheless, positioning, alertness and physical condition were once again key factors to perform well in this type of race. At times slowed down by crashes, at times positioned too far back in the peloton, the riders of Mayenne Monbana My Pie were unable to influence the different race moves. As confirmed by Fiona Mangan, the team’s first finisher, “it was not our best performance. We need to learn from this experience to do better next time.”

Sports director Franck Renimel shared this view: “The result is obviously disappointing. The briefing was clear this morning — we had to be in the early breakaway. We knew we needed to be well positioned from the start because a move would go within the first 15 kilometres. We didn’t stick to the plan. To their credit, some riders were held up by a crash. After that, the breakaway had already gone. On the final circuit, we needed to stay alert and, above all, well positioned in the key sectors. That wasn’t the case, even if it didn’t come down to positioning alone: some riders were affected by the early crash, others are not in their best form. We have to be realistic — the top 30 riders were very strong. We must use this race to make sure we don’t repeat the same mistakes in the future. This weekend in Italy, the world’s best riders will be at the start. I hope we’ll see something positive and that we’ll be part of the race action.”

On Saturday, it’s Milan–San Remo, followed by the Giro dell’Appennino on Sunday.

Results :

49 - Fiona Mangan

68 - Natalie Quinn

Photo credit : Arnaud Guillaume / Mayenne Monbana My Pie