2021 Paris-Bourges (1.1), France
70th edition: Thursday, October 7, 2021
Paris-Bourges podium history | 2019 edition (race not run in 2020) | 2022 edition
Gien - Bourges, 198 km (Gien is about 65 kilometers south of Paris)
Bora-hansgrohe's Jordi Meeus wins in Bourges.
Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the Great Unwashed Created the Tour de France is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
Weather at the finish city of Bourges at 2:00 PM, local time: 17C (62F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the north at 6 km/hr (4 mph). No rain is forecast.
The race: Here's the report from winner Jordi Meeus' Bora-hansgrohe team.
After a breakaway of five riders was in front for the first part of the race, the bunch already reeled them back in with about 40km remaining. From there on several riders tried to attack and the main field had to dig deep to keep the situation under control.
In the finale, when it became clear that a sprint had to decide the race, BORA – hansgrohe delivered Jordi Meeus in a perfect position at the right moment. The Belgium rider launched his sprint from A. Demare’s wheel with 150m to go to take a superior win.
From the Finish Line:
"It was a fast race, especially in the finale with all the attacks. We fully focused on the sprint today and in the end, we have been in position when it mattered. I was on Demare’s wheel in the last corner and on the home straight all was stretched out, so it was an organized sprint. I had a free wheel with 150m to go and launched my sprint in the right moment. This is a great victory for the whole team, and we will enjoy this evening together." – Jordi Meeus
"Our plan was to go all in for the sprint. We only covered big groups in the beginning and fully focused on the finale. I know the last kilometers quite well, as I was also here when Sam Bennett took some wins a few years ago, so we had a clear plan when Jordi had to be where. We didn’t have a real lead-out in the end, but Bodi and Patrick delivered him perfectly before the narrow part. From there on it was up to Jordi. He did a perfect sprint from a perfect position and after some podiums he really deserves this one." – Steffen Radochla, Sports Director
Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the great unwashed created the Tour de France is available as an audiobook here.
Complete Results:
198 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.523 km/hr
| 1 | Jordi Meeus | Bora-hansgrohe | 4hr 20min 58sec |
| 2 | Arnaud Demare | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 3 | Niccolo Bonifazio | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 4 | Piet Allegaert | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 5 | Bryan Coquard | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 6 | Daniel McLay | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 7 | Danny van Poppel | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 8 | Jason Tesson | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 9 | Milan Menten | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 10 | August Jensen | Delko | s.t. |
| 11 | Jonas Rickaert | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 12 | Arne Marit | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 13 | Clement Russo | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 14 | Samuel Leroux | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. |
| 15 | Angel Fuentes | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 16 | Francisco Galvan | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 17 | Tobias Bayer | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 18 | Pierre-Luc Perichon | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 19 | Bernat Font | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 20 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 21 | Fernando Barcelo | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 22 | Kevin Vauquelin | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 23 | Julien Trarieux | Delko | s.t. |
| 24 | Pier-Andre Cote | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 25 | Anders Skaarseth | Uno-X | s.t. |
| 26 | Stijn Siemons | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 27 | Andrea Pasqualon | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 28 | Anthony Maldonado | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 29 | Mathias de Witte | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. |
| 30 | Cyrus Monk | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 31 | Alex Molenaar | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 32 | Conn McDunphy | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 33 | Alex Jaime | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 34 | Mulu Hailemichael | Delko | s.t. |
| 35 | Aaron van Poucke | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 36 | Ruben Apers | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 37 | Aaron Verwilst | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 38 | Linus Stari | Team Vorarlberg | s.t. |
| 39 | Mathijs Paasschens | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 40 | Roger Adria | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 41 | Jasper Stuyven | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 42 | Romain Cardis | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 43 | Julian Mertens | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 44 | Antoine Aebi | Team Vorarlberg | s.t. |
| 45 | Szymon Sajnok | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 46 | Jeremy Leveau | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. |
| 47 | Ramon Sinkeldam | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 48 | Isaac Canton | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 49 | Luc Wirtgen | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 50 | Senne Leysen | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 51 | Alexis Guérin | Team Vorarlberg | s.t. |
| 52 | Bob Jungels | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
| 53 | Valentin Retailleau | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
| 54 | Paul Lapeira | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
| 55 | Daniel Ganahl | Team Vorarlberg | s.t. |
| 56 | Danny van der Tuuk | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 57 | Andre Carvalho | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 58 | Urko Berrade | Kern Pharma | s.t. |
| 59 | Cyril Barthe | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 60 | Rune Herregodts | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 61 | Adam de Vos | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 62 | Alan Riou | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 63 | Daan Hoole | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 64 | Edward Theuns | Trek-Segafredo | s.t. |
| 65 | Paul Ourselin | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 66 | Scott Thwaites | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 67 | Flavien Maurelet | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 68 | Thibault Guernalec | Arkéa-Samsic | @ 14sec |
| 69 | Clement Carisey | Delko | s.t. |
| 70 | Juan Lopez-Cozar | Burgos-BH | 0:15 |
| 71 | Tom Wirtgen | Bingoal-WB | 0:16 |
| 72 | Jacques Lebreton | Cofidis | s.t. |
| 73 | Laurent Pichon | Arkéa-Samsic | s.t. |
| 74 | Tony Gallopin | Ag2r-Citroën | 0:18 |
| 75 | Patrick Gamper | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 76 | Geoffrey Soupe | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 77 | Stephen Bassett | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 78 | Olivier le Gac | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 79 | Luca Mozzato | B&B Hotels | 0:22 |
| 80 | Jeremy Lecroq | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 81 | Maciej Bodnar | Bora-hansgrohe | s.t. |
| 82 | Tony Hurel | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 83 | Tom Devriendt | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | 0:35 |
| 84 | Valentin Ferron | TotalEnergies | 0:42 |
| 85 | Jonathan Hivert | B&B Hotels | s.t. |
| 86 | Thibault Ferasse | B&B Hotels | 0:57 |
| 87 | Alex Kirsch | Trek-Segafredo | 1:04 |
| 88 | Valentin Madouas | Groupama-FDJ | 1:06 |
| 89 | Loic Vliegen | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | 1:09 |
| 90 | Antoine Duchesne | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 91 | Ignatas Konovalovas | Groupama-FDJ | 1:12 |
| 92 | Baptiste Planckaert | Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert | s.t. |
| 93 | Morne van Niekerk | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 94 | Alexander Kamp | Trek-Segafredo | 1:14 |
| 95 | Kyle Murphy | Rally Cycling | 1:16 |
| 96 | Ryan Mullen | Trek-Segafredo | 1:26 |
| 97 | Robin Carpenter | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 98 | Niki Terpstra | TotalEnergies | 2:16 |
| 99 | Alan Boileau | B&B Hotels | 5:17 |
| 100 | Kiel Reijnen | Trek-Segafredo | 6:24 |
| 101 | Joey Rosskopf | Rally Cycling | s.t. |
| 102 | Gilles de Wilde | Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise | s.t. |
| 103 | Alexandre Balmer | Groupama-FDJ | s.t. |
| 104 | Ceriel Desal | Bingoal-WB | s.t. |
| 105 | Michael van Staeyen | EvoPro Racing | s.t. |
| 106 | Julien Duval | Ag2r-Citroën | s.t. |
| 107 | Emiel Vermeulen | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. |
| 108 | Valentin Tabellion | Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole | s.t. |
| 109 | Tim Merlier | Alpecin-Fenix | s.t. |
| 110 | Erik Resell | Uno-X | s.t. |
| 111 | Martin Urianstad | Uno-X | s.t. |
| 112 | Manuel Penalver | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 113 | Rudiger Selig | Bora-hansgrohe | 6:30 |
| 114 | Nicolas Debeaumarche | St Michel-Auber 93 | s.t. |
| 115 | Julius Johansen | Uno-X | 6:52 |