Imagine being so enamoured of a bicycle race that you are inspired to create your own version of it, in your own town, hundreds of kilometres away from where the inspiration originated. That’s exactly how Tro Bro Leon came about.

Like a lot of fans of the Spring Classics, Jean-Paul Mellouët loves Paris-Roubaix the most, enthralled by the battles played out on the cobbles of the Hell of the North. Over in Brittany, JP sought out the closest thing he could find to pavé, the dirt and gravel farm tracks known in the region as ‘ribin’ or ‘ribinous’. The Hell of the North West was born and has continued to forge its own unique identity over the 34 years it has been running.

Despite its geographical disadvantage for those likely to attend the northern classics, the race still attracts a quality field of riders from world Tour, Pro Continental and Conti teams, helping lend to the unpredictability that any road race that ventures off-road offers. With an ever-growing Cyclo event run the day before, more fans are making the pilgrimage to the Breton coast to ride the ribinous and catch the pro action the next day. Having always talked about getting to the race but never achieving it, this year was the time. A hired car, and 8-hour drive, a rented shack on the coast and the dream was alive. The area at once both depressed and enthralled me, usually depending on whether I was in a car or on a bike. It feels like you’re a long way from anywhere or anything here, which can inspire or deflate one’s mood and influence your outlook on life in general. Mostly, life was good here, but four days probably isn’t the best barometer, and the return drive definitely got more interesting the closer I got to Lille and its serendipitious location in the centre of Europe.

With a bunch of sectors all within a small area around Lannilis and Plougerneau it’s possible to catch the race at two, three or four locations if you know your way around or do your homework. I didn’t really achieve either but came pretty close, and caught the race twice at sector 17, just missed 21 and 22 and almost made it to 26, 27 and the finish! I did manage to get a nice run through the back streets and a good sweat going in the on again/off again rain/sun/wind that permeated the day.

Tro Bro could become a bigger race on the Spring calendar in the near future, which could both be a blessing and a curse if it gets too big and the World Tour teams start to take more notice. A lot of its charm is the fact that smaller teams get to mix it up with more established riders as witnessed by the third place finisher popping the bunch sprint behind hard-hitters Laporte and Gaudin. Whatever happens, the race will always be special for its mix of terrain and the visual beauty it creates through the hardships it deals upon its combatants.