Dolan and Bloch ready for first long offshore of Tour of Brittany
by Tom Dolan Racing 2 Jul 2023 13:22 BST
Tour de Bretagne à la Voile Saint-Quay Portrieux Prologue © Pierrick Contin
Ireland's Tom Dolan, racing with Kévin Bloch, made a modest start to the 14th edition of the Tour de Bretagne à la Voile which opened Saturday with a 23 miles coastal race on the bay of Saint-Brieuc in NE Brittany.
Racing in 15 to 20 knots of wind, Dolan and Bloch on Smurfit Kappa-Kingspan started the multi stage double handed race with a 17th place and so are looking forwards to the first long offshore stage, a 280 miler to Brest via Hands Deep off Plymouth which begins today Sunday at 1700hrs local time.
"It's an offshore race with a three times points coefficient. So it will be a key influence on the overall standings whereas yesterday's warm up is not so, so vital, " said Dolan yesterday in Saint Quay.
"We weren't very good today. Although we got off to a good start we then got buried on the wrong side that cost us too much early on. "summarized Dolan.
He thinks the pressure will be on early in the long offshore which will have few big strategic plays.
"Basically, we're going to do a long leg upwind to reach the English coast, another long leg upwind to reach the tip of Brittany, then some calm conditions. There won't be any major strategic choices to make except perhaps with the possibility of going inside or outside Ushant and probably a little play in the Brest channel at the finish, "explains Dolan.
The two crossings of the Channel promise to be relatively simple but the strong currents always come into play, especially with a coefficients around 90.
"We will just go out there and do our best", assures Dolan who believes they should be finished into Brest early on Tuesday morning, before 0700hrs.