Yet another French race steeped in history is cancelled

After the announcements that the Critérium International and La Méditerranéenne would not go ahead in 2017, another French race has been pulled from the cycling calendar.

Organisers of the Cholet-Pays-de-la-Loire, held in the west of France, were expecting to run the 40th edition of the one-day race this March, but conflict between them and the local councillors of Cholet has remained unsettled and the race has therefore been scrapped.

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It is reported by DirectVelo that Marc Madiot, FDJ's manager and president of the French National Cycling League (LNC), met with both parties, along with Alain Clouet, the general secretary of the LNC and race director of Tour du Poitou-Charentes, but no settlement to the dispute was found. It has not been revealed what the conflict is about.

The removal of Cholet-Pays-de-la-Loire, a UCI 1.1 event that attracted French WorldTour teams and a number of Pro-Continental outfits, reduces the number of Coupe de France races from 16 to 15.

Rudy Barbier (Roubaix–Métropole Européenne de Lille) won the 2016 event, adding his name to a list of victors that also includes Arnaud Démare, Thomas Voeckler, Chris Sutton, Jens Voigt and Madiot.