Wild is the wind: Tom Williams, La Gainsbarre and the British riders finding rhythm in France
Tom Williams' victory at La Gainsbarre was more than a first French win. Paul Greenhalgh reflects on a windy day in La Manche, the enduring culture of French amateur racing, and why British riders continue to cross the Channel in search of opportunity.
Picture the scene: it is late afternoon on a sunny, but chilly and blustery April Saturday. A young French cyclist, newly arrived from Nîmes, climbs onto the top step of a race podium in a small town on the coast of south-west England. Along with a huge bouquet of flowers, he is handed a 12-inch-high figurine of Station to Station-era David Bowie, complete with black suit, slicked-back hair and sunken cheekbones. The tired, elated and now somewhat nonplussed rider has just won the annual Thin White Duke Grand Prix.
He is the first of his countrymen to win the nationally important event in its 20-year-plus history and only the fourth foreigner in total. The MC (that Ned Boulting off the telly) is keen to ask the rider a few questions, in English. This could prove tricky, but luckily the team manager steps in and does the interview on his behalf. Eventually, the ceremony ends with a group photograph of the prize winners before they, another 100-plus riders, a small army of team staff and race officials, as well as the sizeable crowd, begin to disperse; all knowing that they get to do the whole thing again tomorrow.
That Serge Gainsbourg came to lend his name to a bike race is a recognition of both his and the sport’s continued cultural significance in France
Far-fetched? Perhaps, but this is merely an Anglicised reimagining of the events of 11 April when Tom Williams (CC Villeneuve Saint-Germain) was victorious in La Gainsbarre. Held over 109 miles (175 kilometres) in Portbail-sur-Mer on the Cotentin peninsula of Lower Normandy (or La Manche as it is known in French), the race pays homage to that most Gallic of cultural icons and at the same time offers a stiff test for the mix of Elite and Open 1 category competitors participating on behalf of their mainly National 1 and 2 teams (DN1 and DN2).* As you would expect, the majority of them are local to Normandy but there are also teams from other regions of France and in some years from Belgium and Holland too.
Image: Julia Coleman
That Serge Gainsbourg came to lend his name to a bike race is a recognition of both his and the sport’s continued cultural significance in France. In some ways the only surprise is that the race is tucked away in rural Lower Normandy, rather than in Paris or its environs. Many books and articles have been written on the man probably most famous in the English-speaking world for his duet with Jane Birkin, Je t’aime. However, perhaps the best way to encapsulate his status is to quote the then French president, François Mitterrand, who, when Serge died of a second smoking- and alcohol-induced heart attack in 1991, compared him to the nineteenth-century writer Baudelaire, long considered as one of the country’s national poets.
Although Lower Normandy may be quiet and the pace of life reassuringly slow, the racing scene in this part of the world is anything but tranquil
Although Lower Normandy may be quiet and the pace of life reassuringly slow (many local shops still close for lunch or, in some cases, for whole days), the racing scene in this part of the world is anything but tranquil. Perhaps less celebrated for its two-wheeled culture than the neighbouring region of Brittany, it is awash with cycle sport of all sorts and at all levels. In addition to La Gainsbarre and its sister race La Gislard, there is the Tour de la Manche in May and the Three Days of Cherbourg in September, multi-day stage races both. For several years, it has also hosted a round of the cyclo-cross World Cup at the chateau of Flamanville on the north-western coast and during the weekends of the summer months there is usually a race of some level taking place somewhere on the peninsula, as well as a series of mid-week evening criteriums.
There is a homespun feel to the scene, with many people giving their time and enthusiasm purely from their love of the sport and pride in their local region. That said, the teams, especially the DN1 operations, have budgets that allow them to employ staff, run an extensive logistical operation and a dedicated service course to house it, as well as the ability to recruit and accommodate riders from overseas. The local DN1 outfit Team Bricquebec Cotentin has a house in the small village of Rauville-la-Bigot, some twenty or so kilometres south of Cherbourg. This year it is home to James Hartley and Max Krasinzki from the UK and Willem O’Connor from Ireland, whilst in 2025 it saw an even greater number of English-speaking riders pass through its substantial doors.
Image: Julia Coleman
The town was also the birthplace of Benoît Cosnefroy and this signposts another contribution of the area: as a rich source of riders for the professional peloton. Other Manchois made good in recent years include Anthony Delaplace, Mickaël Chérel, Amaël Moinard and Paul Lapeira, and when the latter won the French National Road Race Championships in 2024 on home soil at Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, it was celebrated as front-page news by the various local daily newspapers. Similarly, when Cosnefroy won the World Under-23 Road Race Championship in Norway in 2017 a piece of community art was commissioned, in the form of a brutalist metal sculpture of a ten-foot-high cyclist sat astride an equally oversized bicycle. For a time, this would welcome travellers into the village but today only the bike remains and one imagines a rusting Benoît sat forlornly in a corner of someone’s garage thinking of better days.
This though was a rejected safety certificate waiting to happen, as any crashes could easily condemn the riders to a watery end to their race
La Gainsbarre takes place over 14 laps of a simple 12.4-kilometre roughly rectangular circuit, starting and finishing in Portbail. For a few years after 2016, when the Tour de France held its Grand Départ in La Manche and the already pristine roads were upgraded still further, a short finishing circuit was added. This took the riders out of town and into the nearby dunes before returning via a finishing straight which incorporated the scenic but unforgivingly narrow bridge of the 13 arches. This though was a rejected safety certificate waiting to happen, as any crashes could easily condemn the riders to a watery end to their race, and it was no surprise when the organisers readopted the original route. Flat, save for the short steep climb of Mont Thomas (not a mountain in any way), the biggest challenge often comes in the form of a westerly breeze, or stronger, blowing in from the sea.
This year was no different and the field repeatedly faced the home straight with a block headwind driving into their faces. The wearing-down process was quickly underway and although the 14-strong home team looked to control the race, it did not take long for the key break of the day to go away, with Tom Williams an instigator from the very start. An early crash led to a rider being taken to hospital by air ambulance, but the racing continued to be aggressive and each time the field came through the start-finish area, it seemed that a different small group of riders had launched themselves from the peloton to make contact. Such though was the strength of the breakaway that none were successful, and the race began to become increasingly ragged. The peloton was making no progress and the number of fractured groups trying to make contact with the front, and even with each other, was growing.
The sprint finish, Williams on the right. Image: supplied
This was communicated in the lively commentary provided to the crowd by French TV legend and native of the region Daniel Mangeas. For many years, he has been the voice of the Tour de France on French national television and with his ability to describe a bike race for literally days, this four-hour affair was no great challenge to him. At around two-thirds distance he and his co-commentator became animated as for the first time it looked like someone was finally bridging across to the break. The phrase “Le Britannique James Hartley s’est échappé” was repeated many times and even the non-French speakers in the crowd could get the gist of what was happening.
The race was going to come down to a sprint between these riders as they hit the wind in the straight for the final time
Needless to say, when the front group passed the old church and the now bustling shops and bars, James had joined his three team-mates at the head of the race. The Mayenne–V and B–Monbana team from Laval in the Loire was also well represented with three riders in the nine-man group, whilst Tom along with two others from different teams was still there but without any team-mates of his own. The race was going to come down to a sprint between these riders as they hit the wind in the straight for the final time. Despite being one of the strongest, James sacrificed himself for the team and took on lead-out duties. Tom, however, proving his own strength was able to outsprint everyone and to take his first win of the season and his first in France.
The scene after the race was a familiar one. By the barriers, riders shared their excitement or frustrations, chatting to their team-mates, families and friends, before congregating back at the team van, where their helpers and mechanics took over, already in preparation for the next day’s racing. James was lucky enough to have his father and brother Jack, who had also ridden in France, over for the weekend and the value of a friendly face in the crowd after a long day in the saddle was on clear display. Soon afterwards, the presentation ceremony took place, Tom leaving the podium with his mini Serge Gainsbourg and James with his own trophy as current leader of the season-long Trophée de la Manche, for the best rider in the region.
Image: supplied
In the days after, Tom’s coach, Jody Warrington, reflected on the race as well as the events that had brought Tom to be riding for a DN2 team in the north-east of France. There was a tale familiar to many readers, of the current fragility of the UK racing scene, of its detrimental impact on the development of young riders, of commitments gone south and of subsequently dented morale. At this point in Tom’s career, Jody sees his role as providing direction as much as in formulating training plans and between them they had decided that in 2026 Tom would go to France to ride for a team where he would get to ride races such as La Gainsbarre, but without potentially obtrusive obligations to others in the team. On the day, Tom’s ability to freelance his way to victory via a mixture of power and race-craft was clear and Jody summed up the two key factors in a successful 2026 season for Tom as environment, a nice place to ride your bike, and quality race opportunities. It seems that, so far at least, they are paying off.
Somewhere in the cosmos, Serge Gainsbourg lit a cigarette, rubbed a hand across his five o’clock shadow and concluded that this part of the old hexagon at least was still as it has always been
For another year La Gainsbarre was done and dusted. The podium and the barricades were coming down in anticipation of being re-erected in another town and Portbail was returning to its usual sleepy Saturday evening state. In the market square Tom passed James and they briefly wished each other well before James turned to his team-mates and quietly said “demain pour moi”. Meanwhile, somewhere in the cosmos, Serge Gainsbourg lit a cigarette, rubbed a hand across his five o’clock shadow and concluded that this part of the old hexagon at least was still as it has always been.
Picture the scene: it is late afternoon on a sunny, but chilly and blustery April Saturday. A young French cyclist, newly arrived from Nîmes, climbs onto the top step of a race podium in a small town on the coast of south-west England. Along with a huge bouquet of flowers, he is handed a 12-inch-high figurine of Station to Station-era David Bowie, complete with black suit, slicked-back hair and sunken cheekbones. The tired, elated and now somewhat nonplussed rider has just won the annual Thin White Duke Grand Prix.
He is the first of his countrymen to win the nationally important event in its 20-year-plus history and only the fourth foreigner in total. The MC (that Ned Boulting off the telly) is keen to ask the rider a few questions, in English. This could prove tricky, but luckily the team manager steps in and does the interview on his behalf. Eventually, the ceremony ends with a group photograph of the prize winners before they, another 100-plus riders, a small army of team staff and race officials, as well as the sizeable crowd, begin to disperse; all knowing that they get to do the whole thing again tomorrow.
Far-fetched? Perhaps, but this is merely an Anglicised reimagining of the events of 11 April when Tom Williams (CC Villeneuve Saint-Germain) was victorious in La Gainsbarre. Held over 109 miles (175 kilometres) in Portbail-sur-Mer on the Cotentin peninsula of Lower Normandy (or La Manche as it is known in French), the race pays homage to that most Gallic of cultural icons and at the same time offers a stiff test for the mix of Elite and Open 1 category competitors participating on behalf of their mainly National 1 and 2 teams (DN1 and DN2).* As you would expect, the majority of them are local to Normandy but there are also teams from other regions of France and in some years from Belgium and Holland too.
That Serge Gainsbourg came to lend his name to a bike race is a recognition of both his and the sport’s continued cultural significance in France. In some ways the only surprise is that the race is tucked away in rural Lower Normandy, rather than in Paris or its environs. Many books and articles have been written on the man probably most famous in the English-speaking world for his duet with Jane Birkin, Je t’aime. However, perhaps the best way to encapsulate his status is to quote the then French president, François Mitterrand, who, when Serge died of a second smoking- and alcohol-induced heart attack in 1991, compared him to the nineteenth-century writer Baudelaire, long considered as one of the country’s national poets.
Although Lower Normandy may be quiet and the pace of life reassuringly slow (many local shops still close for lunch or, in some cases, for whole days), the racing scene in this part of the world is anything but tranquil. Perhaps less celebrated for its two-wheeled culture than the neighbouring region of Brittany, it is awash with cycle sport of all sorts and at all levels. In addition to La Gainsbarre and its sister race La Gislard, there is the Tour de la Manche in May and the Three Days of Cherbourg in September, multi-day stage races both. For several years, it has also hosted a round of the cyclo-cross World Cup at the chateau of Flamanville on the north-western coast and during the weekends of the summer months there is usually a race of some level taking place somewhere on the peninsula, as well as a series of mid-week evening criteriums.
There is a homespun feel to the scene, with many people giving their time and enthusiasm purely from their love of the sport and pride in their local region. That said, the teams, especially the DN1 operations, have budgets that allow them to employ staff, run an extensive logistical operation and a dedicated service course to house it, as well as the ability to recruit and accommodate riders from overseas. The local DN1 outfit Team Bricquebec Cotentin has a house in the small village of Rauville-la-Bigot, some twenty or so kilometres south of Cherbourg. This year it is home to James Hartley and Max Krasinzki from the UK and Willem O’Connor from Ireland, whilst in 2025 it saw an even greater number of English-speaking riders pass through its substantial doors.
The town was also the birthplace of Benoît Cosnefroy and this signposts another contribution of the area: as a rich source of riders for the professional peloton. Other Manchois made good in recent years include Anthony Delaplace, Mickaël Chérel, Amaël Moinard and Paul Lapeira, and when the latter won the French National Road Race Championships in 2024 on home soil at Saint-Martin-de-Landelles, it was celebrated as front-page news by the various local daily newspapers. Similarly, when Cosnefroy won the World Under-23 Road Race Championship in Norway in 2017 a piece of community art was commissioned, in the form of a brutalist metal sculpture of a ten-foot-high cyclist sat astride an equally oversized bicycle. For a time, this would welcome travellers into the village but today only the bike remains and one imagines a rusting Benoît sat forlornly in a corner of someone’s garage thinking of better days.
La Gainsbarre takes place over 14 laps of a simple 12.4-kilometre roughly rectangular circuit, starting and finishing in Portbail. For a few years after 2016, when the Tour de France held its Grand Départ in La Manche and the already pristine roads were upgraded still further, a short finishing circuit was added. This took the riders out of town and into the nearby dunes before returning via a finishing straight which incorporated the scenic but unforgivingly narrow bridge of the 13 arches. This though was a rejected safety certificate waiting to happen, as any crashes could easily condemn the riders to a watery end to their race, and it was no surprise when the organisers readopted the original route. Flat, save for the short steep climb of Mont Thomas (not a mountain in any way), the biggest challenge often comes in the form of a westerly breeze, or stronger, blowing in from the sea.
This year was no different and the field repeatedly faced the home straight with a block headwind driving into their faces. The wearing-down process was quickly underway and although the 14-strong home team looked to control the race, it did not take long for the key break of the day to go away, with Tom Williams an instigator from the very start. An early crash led to a rider being taken to hospital by air ambulance, but the racing continued to be aggressive and each time the field came through the start-finish area, it seemed that a different small group of riders had launched themselves from the peloton to make contact. Such though was the strength of the breakaway that none were successful, and the race began to become increasingly ragged. The peloton was making no progress and the number of fractured groups trying to make contact with the front, and even with each other, was growing.
This was communicated in the lively commentary provided to the crowd by French TV legend and native of the region Daniel Mangeas. For many years, he has been the voice of the Tour de France on French national television and with his ability to describe a bike race for literally days, this four-hour affair was no great challenge to him. At around two-thirds distance he and his co-commentator became animated as for the first time it looked like someone was finally bridging across to the break. The phrase “Le Britannique James Hartley s’est échappé” was repeated many times and even the non-French speakers in the crowd could get the gist of what was happening.
Needless to say, when the front group passed the old church and the now bustling shops and bars, James had joined his three team-mates at the head of the race. The Mayenne–V and B–Monbana team from Laval in the Loire was also well represented with three riders in the nine-man group, whilst Tom along with two others from different teams was still there but without any team-mates of his own. The race was going to come down to a sprint between these riders as they hit the wind in the straight for the final time. Despite being one of the strongest, James sacrificed himself for the team and took on lead-out duties. Tom, however, proving his own strength was able to outsprint everyone and to take his first win of the season and his first in France.
The scene after the race was a familiar one. By the barriers, riders shared their excitement or frustrations, chatting to their team-mates, families and friends, before congregating back at the team van, where their helpers and mechanics took over, already in preparation for the next day’s racing. James was lucky enough to have his father and brother Jack, who had also ridden in France, over for the weekend and the value of a friendly face in the crowd after a long day in the saddle was on clear display. Soon afterwards, the presentation ceremony took place, Tom leaving the podium with his mini Serge Gainsbourg and James with his own trophy as current leader of the season-long Trophée de la Manche, for the best rider in the region.
In the days after, Tom’s coach, Jody Warrington, reflected on the race as well as the events that had brought Tom to be riding for a DN2 team in the north-east of France. There was a tale familiar to many readers, of the current fragility of the UK racing scene, of its detrimental impact on the development of young riders, of commitments gone south and of subsequently dented morale. At this point in Tom’s career, Jody sees his role as providing direction as much as in formulating training plans and between them they had decided that in 2026 Tom would go to France to ride for a team where he would get to ride races such as La Gainsbarre, but without potentially obtrusive obligations to others in the team. On the day, Tom’s ability to freelance his way to victory via a mixture of power and race-craft was clear and Jody summed up the two key factors in a successful 2026 season for Tom as environment, a nice place to ride your bike, and quality race opportunities. It seems that, so far at least, they are paying off.
For another year La Gainsbarre was done and dusted. The podium and the barricades were coming down in anticipation of being re-erected in another town and Portbail was returning to its usual sleepy Saturday evening state. In the market square Tom passed James and they briefly wished each other well before James turned to his team-mates and quietly said “demain pour moi”. Meanwhile, somewhere in the cosmos, Serge Gainsbourg lit a cigarette, rubbed a hand across his five o’clock shadow and concluded that this part of the old hexagon at least was still as it has always been.
* See The rough guide to racing in France on The British Continental for more on the French team structure.
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