Alaphilippe had attacked on the gravelled climb of the Bosse Saoutarlarin, 60 kilometres from the finish, and escaped from the peloton with his team mate, Denmark's Mikkel Honoré, Cosnefroy, and Slovenian Tadej Pogačar.

Pogačar was dropped shortly afterwards, and though Alaphilippe attacked Cosnefroy repeatedly he was unable to distance his fellow Frenchman, who proved to be the strongest in the final sprint.

"I’m really happy, it’s my first World Tour win," Cosnefroy said, as reported by Cycling News.

"I’ve been waiting for it so of course, it’s brilliant.

"It was a really exciting race today.

"It was just me against the two Deceuninck guys at the end.

"I knew I felt good that I could go with Julian when he attacked.

"Of course, it’s a different sprint here.

"I knew I could do something; I was confident."

The one-day race offered riders a great preparation opportunity for the 2021 International Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Championships which are scheduled to take place in September.

The classic closely resembles the course in Flanders in Belgium as both are circuit races of similar length.

The women's version of the event, the Grand Prix de Plouay, is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

The race is well-known for its circuit style course that includes punchy climbs, technical descents and an uphill run to the finish line.

The women will race 150km, up from the shortened distance of 101.1km last year, which includes 2,321 metres of vertical gain.

The 17^th edition of the Benelux Tour is also due to begin tomorrow.

The first of the seven stages is played out in the flattest province of the Netherlands, Friesland, so the first bunch sprint is expected.

Traditionally featuring the hills of Amstel Gold Race, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Flanders, the race is tailor made for classics riders and hill specialists.