28 January 2022

Maxime Bouet: "My knowledge of the course is an asset for the team”

Maxime Bouet will be, as we are used to say in cycling, the “regional of the stage” once again on this 2022 edition of the Marseillaise.

Pre-race

 

 

“The course this year is different from the other editions of the Marseillaise, and in my opinion it will be harder than its predecessors. The big change is the route des Crêtes taken by Cassis, with a very dry climb a bit like the Mur de Huy. It lasts between 9 and 10 minutes, the average percentage varies between 10 and 12%. It is a rather dreaded sector, and afterwards a new difficulty has been added to the course. I know that I am lucky to be able to race like this at home in front of my family, my relatives and my friends. But I am taking this race more and more like any other in the calendar, even if the motivation is still there, I don’t put the pressure on. I know all the roads, the race even starts in my village, and the bumps we will take are the ones on which I do my exercises, my intensities. I know the course to the millimetre, which is also an asset for the Arkéa-Samsic team and therefore for my team-mates“.

The reverse ascent of the Crêtes this year may change the situation, but an event like the Marseillaise is still a race that can be enjoyed by riders who go fast and are able to negotiate the bumps well. I know the Crêtes for having climbed this difficulty in 2019 during the Tour de la Provence. The characteristic of this difficulty is that it is steep at the foot but the ascent is done on an “easier” percentage. So we will have to see in situ how the approach to the Crêtes will go, and especially how it will be climbed. I have already raced this year because last weekend I was lined up for the Classica Comunitat Valenciana. I had a good feeling after our training course, now we’ll see what happens in a higher level event like the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise».

Yvon Caër, Directeur-Sportif

The briefing

 

The Marseillaise is traditionally the first day of school in France. It has become a classic in our national calendar and it counts in a prize list whether it is for a rider or a team. The field this year is still dense, and the competition is going to be tough. The change of course with the climb of the Crêtes in the opposite direction of the previous editions can influence the final of the race in a different way than in other years, that’s why Maxime Bouet and the young Alessandro Verre, author of a very good performance last week in Valence, can be good cards for us in this race which smells good for the beginning of the season but which is already important in the mind of many people“.

The number

2

Last year, the Arkéa-Samsic team took second place in the opening race in France, a race that ended with a small group sprint.

 

News

Connor Swift will race the Grand Prix de la Marseillaise for the first time in his career this Sunday.

Our team composition for the Marseillaise, 30 January 2022

Maxime Bouet, Alessandro Verre (Italy), Connor Swift (Great Britain), Alan Riou, Thibault Guernalec, Clément Russo, Amaury Capiot (Belgium)

Sporting director: Yvon Caër

Riders