Nina Berton won the 2026 Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic with a perfectly timed late surge, catching Paula Blasi and Célia Gery within sight of the line after the pair had spent the closing kilometres trying to hold off the chase in Plouhinec.
The EF Education-Oatly rider launched from the reduced chasing group as Gery and defending champion Blasi entered the final kilometre with only a handful of seconds in hand. Berton closed the gap herself and swept past both riders in the final 50 metres to take the biggest one-day victory of her career.
Blasi finished second and French champion Gery third, both on Berton’s time of 3:30:39. Sarah van Dam followed in fourth less than 24 hours after winning the Finistère Ladies Classic on the same finish in Plouhinec.
Jastrab, Kraak and Sadnik establish the first serious break
The 129.5km race began at Pointe du Raz before crossing some of western Brittany’s most difficult roads on the way to six finishing circuits around Plouhinec.
The 2026 Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic route had significantly increased the amount of ribinoù, with rough tracks, narrow lanes and repeated short climbs giving teams plenty of opportunities to force selections before the circuit.
After several early attempts failed, Megan Jastrab attacked for UAE Team L’IMAD around 50 kilometres into the race. Amber Kraak followed for FDJ United-SUEZ before Katharina Sadnik bridged across for Visma | Lease a Bike.
The trio built the first substantial advantage of the afternoon and reached Plouhinec for the first time with six circuits remaining. Anouska Koster chased alone behind them, while the peloton had already begun to shrink after the opening succession of rough roads and climbs.
Their advantage reached more than a minute, but the composition of the chase meant they were unlikely to be given enough freedom to settle the race.
EF closes the gap as the favourites begin to move
The break’s advantage fell sharply as the race entered its final 30 kilometres.
EF Education-Oatly began driving the reduced peloton, bringing the gap down to around 25 seconds. The pursuit coincided with a crash that caught several riders, including Van Dam and Cédrine Kerbaol, although both were able to continue.
The original leaders were caught soon afterwards and the race immediately changed shape.
Elisa Longo Borghini attacked for UAE Team L’IMAD, with Gery responding. Eva van Agt, Blasi, Rosita Reijnhout and Sadnik subsequently joined them, putting three of the strongest teams in the race into a six-rider selection.
UAE’s strength had been obvious before the start. Blasi returned as defending champion, Longo Borghini offered another proven Classics option and Maëva Squiban gave the team further depth on terrain suited to aggressive racing. Those strengths had made the team central to the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic contenders preview.
They were now beginning to use those numbers.
Gery, Blasi and Reijnhout make the decisive attack
The six-rider group did not remain together for long.
With around 18 kilometres remaining, Gery, Blasi and Reijnhout forced their way clear. The trio quickly established around 40 seconds over a race that had fragmented into several chasing groups behind them.
Their advantage was still approximately 25 seconds when they crossed the finish line to begin the final circuit.
That was enough to make the move dangerous, but not enough to allow the three leaders to hesitate.
Around 15 riders had regrouped behind. EF Education-Oatly and Cofidis both had numbers in the chase, while Ma Petite Entreprise also had several riders present. The teams represented at the front had riders behind too, including Van Dam for Visma and Longo Borghini for UAE.
Kerbaol became particularly important for EF.
Despite being caught in the earlier crash, the Breton rider helped drive the chase and gradually brought the leaders back within reach. Berton could spend more of the finale protected rather than having to commit herself to every turn.
Gery drops Reijnhout on the final circuit
Gery attacked as the race approached the final rough sectors with around five kilometres remaining.
Reijnhout was unable to follow. Blasi initially lost ground as well, but the Spaniard settled into her effort and gradually worked her way back to the French champion.
The two strongest riders from the three-woman move were together again.
Behind, however, EF’s work had reduced the margin to only a few seconds.
Gery and Blasi had no opportunity to start watching one another. They continued working through the final kilometres knowing that any hesitation would allow the chasers to make immediate contact.
It created a delicate situation. They were close enough to the finish to believe they could survive, but no longer far enough ahead to begin setting up a conventional two-rider sprint.
Berton goes long and catches the leaders
Gery and Blasi still held their narrow advantage beneath the final kilometre banner.
The French champion continued to contribute before preparing for the sprint, with Blasi positioned alongside her. The chasing group remained tantalisingly close without quite making contact.
Berton decided not to wait for it.
The Luxembourg champion launched from behind and began closing the remaining metres alone. Rather than arriving exhausted on the wheels of Gery and Blasi, she carried enough speed to go straight past them.
Gery opened her sprint and Blasi responded, but Berton was already coming.
She caught the pair inside the final 50 metres and powered through to take the victory.
Blasi crossed second, denied a second consecutive Pointe du Raz title within metres of the line. Gery finished third after initiating the attack that had split the final trio and then spending much of the closing kilometres trying to preserve the move.
Van Dam took fourth, giving the Canadian a win and a fourth place from the two races in Finistère. Nadia Quagliotto and Victoire Berteau followed in fifth and sixth for Cofidis, with Sadnik seventh after returning to the front following her earlier breakaway.
Longo Borghini finished eighth, Noémie Abgrall ninth and Kerbaol tenth.
EF’s chase gives Berton the chance to finish it
Berton’s acceleration decided the race, but EF had spent the previous kilometres creating the opportunity.
Kerbaol’s work was particularly important. With Blasi and Gery still committed ahead, EF needed to keep the gap small enough for a rider with a sprint to bridge rather than simply dragging the entire chase back.
Berton judged that distance correctly.
The victory was her second of the season after winning the Luxembourg national time trial and her first professional road race win from a mass start.
It also provided another close finish at the end of a weekend designed around Plouhinec. Van Dam had beaten Lily Williams in a photo finish on Saturday before Berton came from behind to overhaul two leaders almost on the line on Sunday.
Pointe du Raz itself has changed rapidly since its first edition. The history of the Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic charts its development from a two-day domestic event into an international one-day race built around the ribinoù and the repeated Plouhinec circuits.
In 2026 those roads produced a race in which the front group changed repeatedly before the final kilometre. Gery and Blasi came closest to making the last attack stick, but Berton left herself just enough road to catch them.
Pointe du Raz Ladies Classic 2026 result
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Pointe du Raz
