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After having been in the lead from the beginning to the end, Pit Schlechter wins the 86th edition of the Grand-prix François Faber in impressive manner. The race was held this year as a road race on a difficult circuit of 8 kilometers, to be tackled 10 times.
In the middle of the holiday period, 19 riders only line up for the Grand-prix François Faber 2008, a race that
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Christophe Fanck attacks at the start
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promises to be very tough with the climb of Moutfort to be ridden 10 times. But from the start, Luxemburgish National champion Christophe Fanck attacks and takes several riders by surprise. After only one kilometer of racing, the peloton is split into three pieces with three riders up front and then two more groups of 8-10 riders that are seperated by only 10 seconds. After a hard chase at more than 50 km/h on the road to Moutfort, the peloton regroups again just before the first climb.
But Christophe Fanck doesn't want to give up and he attacks again on the climb of Moutfort.
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The break of the day: Schlechter, Hümbert, Fanck
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His acceleration hurts a lot and allows three riders to break away even before the first passage on the line, namely the Luxemburgish champion, Pit Schlechter from Tétange and Michael Humbert, who is believed to be one of the biggest young talents in Germany. The gap of the three riders to the peloton oscillates between 30 and 40 seconds for a long time, before rising up to a minute at around mid-race. There isn't any real chase in the peloton, where riders prefer to attack and try to bridge up alone, rather than seek for a good cooperation
But the race hasn't finished yet, since Christophe Franck shows some signs of weakness at the front of the race
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The sprint for fourth place
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and is dropped by the two other riders, whereas the peloton reduces the gap to 30 seconds again, after accelerations of Belgian rider Pollizotto and of Master Michel Kohnen. There are again lots of attacks in the bunch, with everyone trying to bridge up to the two leaders, but only Andy Katzenmeier manages to break away. But he doesn't quite succeed in his attempt, since Schlechter and Hümbert eventually are the strongest and manage to hold the rider from Preizerdaul at distance, whereas the peloton loses again some ground.
The decision
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Michel Kohnen and Pit Schlechter
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for the victory has to fall in the last lap since Michael Hümbert, the "rouleur" hasn't got rid of Schlechter, who is the better climber. The rider from Tétange attacks on an uphill part shortly before the line, manages to take three meters of advantage and takes the victory in the 86th edition of the Grand-prix François Faber, ahead of Hümbert and of Andy Katzenmeier, who finishes 38 seconds later. Michael Bittner wins the sprint of the peloton for fourth place in front of Schwarz and Pollizotto, whereas Michel Kohnen is the best rider of the masters category in 10th position.
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