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Frédéric Guesdon (Française des Jeux) has won the Tro Bro Leon race in the sprint while racing on Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tires.

To better roll on the dirt and graveled roads of Brittany, all of the Française des Jeux used Fusion 2 Tubeless tires during the Tro Bro Leon which is known as the Paris Roubaix of Brittany. Conditions were especially wet and muddy on the narrow roads in which the race is held.

Many of the competing teams had multiple punctures. Andrezj Pozak, one of the FDJ’s team mechanics said the race was without mechanical incidents. “The only stess was the final palpitation of Frédéric Guesdon.” The FDJ team finished with three riders in the top 10 finishers. Winner Frédéric Guesdon ; Lilian Jégou and Yauheni Hutarovich finished in 4th and 10th places respectively.

It’s been the 4th victory for Fusion 2 Road Tubeless this season after the success of Phillipe Gilbert (Het Volk, Grand Prix Samyn) and Yauheni Hutarovich (2nd stage of the Tour des Flandres Occidentales and the overall final classification).

After his two récent victories at the Het Volk and the Grand Prix of Samyn while riding Fusion 2 Road Tubeless Tires

Hutchinson : You won the Het Volk with panache. Almost unnoticed by the public was the fact that you rode the race on tubeless tires. Is this new ?

Philippe Gilbert : Yes, I’d tested the tires in training a few days before the Het Volk. I liked them, especially on the cobbles I found them efficient and very comfortable.

- The tires must have felt good enough to use them again three days later to take a another victory on them ?

- At the GP of Samyn the roads were bad and I felt good about using Tubeless

- Do you know that the Tubeless tires are manufactured a few kilometers from hère ?

- Yes, I’ve passed in front of the factory. If I had the time, it would have been nice to visit. Perhaps next time.

- So, in the end tubulars or tubeless ?

This dépends on the conditions. We’ve been amazed by the Tubeless tires. We will test them again in Flanders at the 3 Days of the Panne, The Tour of Flanders, and Ghent-Wevelgem.

The team racing this week at Tirreno-Adriatico is also testing Tubeless. It will be interesting to get together and share their newest impressions of tubeless tires.

After a pre-race reconnaissance of the Het Volk parcours using Fusion 2 Road Tubeless tires, Martial Gayant, director sportif for FDJ gave the go-ahead for the team to use them in the race. The result? Top podium place by Philippe Gilbert in a sensational solo ride. Gilbert got away 49 km from the finish and never looked back. 

The Fusion 2 tires performed impeccably on the cobbled sections thanks to the fact that you can run them at a lower more comfortable pressure. It was Gilbert’s second win in this first semi-classic of the season.

Hutchinson is proud to announce a two year sponsorship package with the Française des Jeux Pro Tour Cycling Team. The team will be exclusively using Hutchinson road tires for the next two seasons. Specifically Hutchinson Road Tubeless Tires. The team will be competing in all the Pro Tour races and the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta d’Espana during the upcoming season. The team is coached and managed by Marc Madiot.
The roster for the 2008 season includes the following riders.
AUGER Ludovic, CASAR Sandy, DA CRUZ Carlos, DELAGE Mickaël, DETILLOUX Christophe, Di GREGORIO Rémy, GERARD Arnaud, GILBERT Philippe, GUESDON Frédéric, JEGOU Lilian, JOLY Sébastien, LADAGNOUS Matthieu, LÖVKVIST Thomas, McGEE Bradley, McLEOD Ian, MENGIN Christophe, MONNERAIS Cyrille, MOUREY Francis, PATANCHON Fabien, ROY,Jérémy, VAUGRENARD Benoît, VEIKKANEN Jussi, CHAVANEL Sébastien, CHEREL Mickaël, GUDSELL Timothy, LINDGREN Johan, MARICHAL Thierry