Benoît Cosnefroy completed the job for UAE Team Emirates-XRG on Sunday, winning the general classification at the Boucles de la Mayenne after finishing safely in the peloton on the final stage.
The French rider carried a seven-second lead into stage 3 after winning stage 2 on Saturday. On a flat final day, that margin still left little room for error.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG had to keep the race under control, watch the breakaway, and protect Cosnefroy from any late move for bonus seconds. They did enough on all three counts.
Cosnefroy crossed the line in the main bunch as Olav Kooij of Decathlon CMA CGM won the stage in a sprint. Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek finished second, with John Degenkolb of Team Picnic PostNL third.
The overall win for Cosnefroy was his first general classification title since joining UAE Team Emirates-XRG over the winter.
It also continued a strong run for the 30-year-old, who has now taken four wins in less than a month. His Mayenne title was built largely on Saturday’s stage 2 victory, when he had the legs to finish off a hard day with a sharp sprint to the line.
The final stage still needed care. Groupama-FDJ United rider Thibaud Gruel started the day second overall, only seven seconds down, and remained a threat through the intermediate sprints.
Cosnefroy said the team had treated the day with the focus it required.
“I’m very happy, especially since I could throw my hands in the air yesterday, which is the highlight of the week,” Cosnefroy said. “As for today, my team and I accomplished our mission.”
“We had to be very focused throughout the day in order to keep the leader’s jersey, as we had to watch out for the tactics of rivals like Groupama’s Thibaud Gruel, who was chasing bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint.”
The result gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG the final overall win after a week in which the team had already been active at the front of the race.
Cosnefroy finished the race in 12 hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds. Gruel was second overall at seven seconds, with Noa Isidore of Decathlon CMA CGM third at 12 seconds.
Cosnefroy said his move to the Emirati team had settled well.
“It’s never easy to adapt to a new environment. I was joining a very strong team and one can never be sure of how things will go. In the end, it’s going super well.”
Stage 3 result
- Olav Kooij, Decathlon CMA CGM, 3:13:36
- Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek, same time
- John Degenkolb, Team Picnic PostNL, same time
Final general classification
- Benoît Cosnefroy, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 12:21:47
- Thibaud Gruel, Groupama-FDJ United, +7 seconds
- Noa Isidore, Decathlon CMA CGM, +12 seconds
