13 May 2022

Tro Bro Leon : "you have to like this race in order to shine"

Winner of the 2021 Tro Bro Leon with Connor Swift, the Team Arkéa Samsic will defend its title on Sunday on the farm tracks of Brittany known as ribinoù.

“I feel very good and motivated before the Tro Bro Leon. After Paris-Roubaix, I could have a break at home and it was nice to have relaxed. The Tro Bro Leon is a great race which started my season last year. To have won it gives more confidence especially when you achieve that being part of a Breton team. Being the previous winner gives also a lot of pressure but chance has to be taken into account. Like Roubaix, you avoid to go through punctures and crashes. At the end, the strongest will be able to win the race.

The route features a lot of farm tracks. I think a lot of people in the UK will follow the race on TV because there’s a lot of action and it’s very similar to Roubaix.”

“As a Breton rider, the Tro Bro Leon is my favourite race. Like the Hell of the North, the ‘Tro Bro’ is a physical race where you need strength, technique and a good knowledge of how to place yourself on the paths. There is also a lot of luck involved in avoiding crashes and punctures.

I will start my 11th Tro Bro Leon with a lot of enthusiasm. It is the race I would like to win. I feel no pressure before tackling this race because I know that you can lose everything if you are unlucky. Paris-Roubaix and the 4 Jours de Dunkerque gave me confidence. During the ‘4 Jours’, people came to talk to me and thank me for what I had achieved in Paris-Roubaix by telling me that I had marked them. I am really impatient to ride again in front of the Breton fans, at home, on a race that passes by my training roads and that I always liked.”

Yvon Caër, directeur sportif

“The whole team, riders and staff, is approaching this 2022 edition with a lot of motivation, as every year, because it is a special event, and a special one on our home soil. The fact that we won it last year gives us confidence, even if it is a race with many hazards. To shine in this race, you need a certain amount of luck but you also have to like it and not to be afraid of it. Of course, in the final we will have to be the strongest to be able to hope to raise our arms.”

Riders