5th for Clarke at the Royal Bernard Drome Classic

Defending champion, Simon Clarke placed 5th in Team Qhubeka ASSOS (www.TeamQhubeka.com), overlapping strongly in the race. It was teamwork throughout, with multiple appearances at the front of the pack, keeping the break at a controlled distance.

After the break was caught, there were plenty of attacks from the reduced field, with Bagioli staying on the sidelines to secure the victory. The reduced sprint of the peloton saw Darryl Impey (ISN) finish second and Mikkel Frølich Honoré (DQS) third.

Simon clarke

“It was a good race, I was really motivated to try to defend my victory from last year and I tried to approach the race from a tactical point of view similar to what I did there. ‘last year. I had good legs and felt good, unfortunately I think I started following the attacks a bit too early, that’s where the race split last year.

In the end, everything came back together for a bit of a sprint, looking back, maybe I should have taken it a little easier and focused on the home stretch. The positives were that I felt good and I was in front.

The team was also super strong, they rode for me all day, I owe them a big thank you for helping me and putting me in the right position. I had Fabio Aru with me in the final, to help me and make sure everything was going well.

It was a good day and I hope we can continue this teamwork and motivation until our next races. “