After two sterling wins for the Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes team at the Klondike GP and Arno Wallaard Memorial Race over the previous 8 days, on Easter Monday 22nd April the wheels came off at Tro-Bro Leon. Fortunately in most cases the wheels, and tyres, went back on again!
There was a very strong field in the UCI 1.1 classified race which consisted of two World Tour, 11 Pro-Continental and eight Continental teams.
Tro-Bro Leon is often called Le Petit Paris–Roubaix or The Hell of the West as it includes 27 sections of destructive dirt, cobblestones and gravel making up 30km of the 206km course over the rolling, windy coast and country roads of Brittany (see image one).
Tro-Bro Leon is like a bigger, badder version of the Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic which largely the same group of Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes riders will contest this coming Sunday.
These are days where the team’s sponsors’ products are tested to the full, with Hunt Bike Wheels and Maxxis Tyres coming up trumps at Tro-Bro Leon. They are also days where lady luck may shine on you, and in other cases sadly she does not.
Instead of nominating a protected leader or two for the race, Directeur Sportif Tim Elverson asked the team to ride as a unit towards the head of the field (see image two).
New French Assistant Directeur Sportif, Alexandre Blain, who has ridden this race on 10 previous occasions, provided valuable detailed course information to the riders over the radio as the race unfolded.
As usual the opening kilometres saw a series of attempts to establish a breakaway but these were all neutralised until Alex Paton thrust ahead with three other riders around the 15km mark (see image three).
This was the break of the day which lasted for over 140km and had gained up to seven minutes until Paton experienced that dreaded sinking feeling with a rear puncture towards the end of one of the challenging off-road sectors.
At this point the rest of the Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes team were holding favourable positions within the disintegrating peloton but it was also where lady luck ran out and virtually all the team’s riders experienced punctures within a 20km window (see image four).
As the team support car attended to each rider, it fell further and further behind causing longer and longer delays before each affected rider was re-equipped with a replacement wheel.
In some cases riders managed to grab a wheel from a static support team member or neutral service. Alex Richardson demonstrated the value of the Maxxis tubeless tyres by riding on a deflating tyre over an extended period late on in the race, then riding on the Hunt Bike Wheels rim before getting serviced. However, the damage was done and the remaining riders had to fight to the finish to maintain the best positions they could.
This great race was thoroughly enjoyed by most of the riders who would love to return to the race next year and was definitely a tasty aperitif to the forthcoming CiCLE Classic!

Result:
1st – Andrea Vendrame
Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec

34th – Andrew Tennant
Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes

37th – Alexandar Richardson
Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes

67th – Thomas Stewart
Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes

83rd – Ryan Christensen
Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes

Written by Paul and Marina Stedman.
Images: Awen Le Gall