2021 Etoile de Bessèges (2.1), France

51st edition: February 3 - 7, 2021

Etoile de Bessèges podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

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Sunday, February 7: 5th & Final Stage, Alès 10.7 km individual time trial

Stage 5 map & profile | Stage 5 photos

Tim Wellens' 4th place in the time trial was more than good enough to seal his overall win. Lotto-Soudal picture.

Weather at the city of Alès at 1:40 PM, local time: 11C (52F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the northwest at 23 km/hr (14 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: The first rider off was Samy Aurignac (Cambodia Cycling Academy) at 1:19. Last rider scheduled to go is GC leader Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal) at 3:45.

Here's the report from GC winner Tim Wellens' Lotto-Soudal team:

Tim Wellens secured the overall victory during the closing individual time trial at the Etoile de Bessèges. Wellens once again demonstrated his excellent shape and time trialled his way to fourth place. Not only was that more than enough for the overall win, Wellens also extended his lead in the general classification by a few seconds. Just like yesterday, it was the Italian Filippo Ganna who took the stage win. On the final podium, Wellens was flanked by Michal Kwiatkowski and Nils Politt.

The 51st edition of the Etoile de Bessèges concluded with a ten kilometres long time trial, in which the riders had to overcome a short but tough climb at the very end. Early in the time trial, British rider Ethan Hayter set an excellent time of 15’21”, but his teammate Ganna once again impressed and finished in exactly 15 minutes. That delivered the time trial world champion a second consecutive stage win. Tim Wellens, leader in the general classification, was the last rider to start in Alès and defended a 44-second lead on his closest rival. Wellens rode an excellent time trial and finished 29 seconds behind Ganna, which resulted in a fourth place. That way, the Belgian Lotto Soudal rider even extended his lead in the general classification. In the end, Wellens wins the Etoile de Bessèges with a 53-second lead over Polish rider Kwiatkowski.

That way, Wellens gives a nice birthday present to Vic Swerts – founder and owner of Soudal – who celebrates his 81st birthday today.

“Of course, I’ve laid the foundations of my overall victory in stage three”, begins Tim Wellens. "It felt nice to start this closing time trial with a lead of more than 40 seconds. I had really good legs today, something I already noticed this morning. But most of all, I was really motivated to give Vic Swerts, founder and owner of Soudal, a nice gift for his 81st birthday.”

“The time trial suited me. I managed to push more watts than I had initially planned. That is also why I was able to take the overall victory. Of course, it also helped that I already did a recon of the course beforehand. Already before the start of the Etoile de Bessèges, we knew that the time trial would be decisive for the overall victory. That is also why the team especially sent someone today. Everything was really well organised. A big thank you to the entire team, they were so strong all week long. That is really promising for the rest of the season”, concludes Tim Wellens.

The next race for Wellens will be the Tour de la Provence, which kicks off this coming Thursday.

Complete Results:

Stage 5 photos

10.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 48.0 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	15min 0sec
2	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	@ 10sec
3	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	21
4	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	29
5	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	31
6	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	34
7	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	35
8	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	38
9	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
10	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	41
11	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	44
12	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
13	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	47
14	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	49
15	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
16	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	51
17	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
18	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	53
19	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	55
20	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
21	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	56
22	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
23	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	58
24	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	1:00
25	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:01
26	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:02
27	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	1:04
28	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
29	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
30	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	1:06
31	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
32	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	1:07
33	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	1:08
34	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	1:09
35	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	1:09
36	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	1:11
37	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
38	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	1:12
39	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
40	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
41	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	1:13
42	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
43	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
44	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	1:15
45	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:19
46	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
47	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	1:20
48	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	1:21
49	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
50	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
51	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	1:22
52	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	1:24
53	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	s.t.
54	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
55	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	1:26
56	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:27
57	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	1:28
58	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
59	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
60	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	1:29
61	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	1:30
62	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r-Citroën	1:31
63	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
64	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
65	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	1:32
66	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
67	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	1:33
68	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	1:34
69	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
70	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	1:37
71	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	1:39
72	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
73	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
74	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	1:40
75	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	1:41
76	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
77	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
78	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
79	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	1:42
80	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	s.t.
81	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	1:43
82	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	1:45
83	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	1:47
84	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	1:48
85	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
86	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
87	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	1:51
88	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	1:52
89	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
90	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	1:55
91	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
92	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	1:56
93	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
94	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	1:58
95	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	2:00
96	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	2:01
97	Lawrence Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	2:03
98	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
99	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
100	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	2:04
101	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
102	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:05
103	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	2:07
104	Julien Duval	Ag2r-Citroën	2:08
105	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	2:09
106	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	2:10
107	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	2:11
108	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
109	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	2:15
110	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	2:17
111	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	2:18
112	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	2:20
113	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
114	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
115	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	2:21
116	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	2:22
117	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:25
118	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
119	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	2:39
120	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	2:41
121	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:42
122	Pierre Barbier	Delko	2:43
123	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:45
124	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	2:46
125	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	2:48
126	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	2:59
127	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	3:00
128	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	3:02
129	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	3:03
130	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	3:06
131	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	3:07
132	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	3:23
133	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	3:26
134	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	3:31
135	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	3:35

Final GC after stage 5:

• Final GC leader: Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal)
• Mountain classification winner: Alexandre Delettre (Delko)
• Points classification winner: Christophe Laporte (Cofidis)
• Best young rider: Jake Stewart (Groupama-FDJ)
• Team classification winner: Lotto Soudal

614.5 kilomters raced at an average speed of 44.083 km/hr

1	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	13hr 56min 23sec
2	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	@ 53sec
3	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	59
4	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	1:02
5	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	1:19
6	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	1:24
7	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	1:25
8	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	1:36
9	Clément Carisey	Delko	1:41
10	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	1:45
11	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	1:54
12	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	2:02
13	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	2:27
14	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	2:28
15	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	2:57
16	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	3:10
17	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	3:15
18	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	3:48
19	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	3:49
20	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	3:57
21	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	3:58
22	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	4:06
23	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	4:08
24	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	4:11
25	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	4:14
26	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	4:15
27	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
28	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:18
29	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	4:25
30	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	4:26
31	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	4:31
32	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
33	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	4:32
34	August Jensen	Delko	4:45
35	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
36	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	4:48
37	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	4:52
38	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
39	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:57
40	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	4:58
41	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
42	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
43	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	5:00
44	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	5:01
45	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
46	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	5:03
47	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	5:04
48	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
49	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	5:06
50	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	5:07
51	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	5:08
52	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	5:23
53	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
54	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	5:27
55	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	5:29
56	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	5:38
57	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	5:39
58	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	5:44
59	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	5:45
60	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	5:46
61	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	5:50
62	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	5:55
63	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	6:00
64	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	6:04
65	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	6:27
66	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	6:44
67	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	6:45
68	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	6:47
69	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	7:11
70	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	7:17
71	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	7:55
72	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	8:37
73	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	11:41
74	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	12:25
75	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	12:41
76	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	12:51
77	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	13:16
78	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	14:00
79	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	14:48
80	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	14:55
81	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	15:35
82	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	15:41
83	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	16:44
84	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	18:05
85	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	18:42
86	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	22:07
87	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	22:09
88	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r-Citroën	22:19
89	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	22:26
90	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	22:33
91	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	22:41
92	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	22:46
93	Lawrence Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	23:01
94	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	23:13
95	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	23:24
96	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	23:25
97	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	23:27
98	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	23:40
99	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	23:47
100	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	23:52
101	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	23:54
102	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	23:54
103	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	23:55
104	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	24:12
105	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	24:17
106	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	24:39
107	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	24:48
108	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	25:17
109	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	25:28
110	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	26:05
111	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	26:19
112	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	26:33
113	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	26:45
114	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	27:28
115	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux	27:54
116	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	29:15
117	Julien Duval	Ag2r-Citroën	29:22
118	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	29:47
119	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	29:48
120	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	30:21
121	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	30:26
122	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	30:46
123	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	31:01
124	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	31:02
125	Pierre Barbier	Delko	31:18
126	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	31:26
127	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	31:44
128	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	31:48
129	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	32:28
130	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	32:38
131	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	32:43
132	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	33:39
133	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	35:33
134	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	35:45
135	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	39:18

Stage 5 map & profile

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 profile

Stage 5 photos:

Pierre Latour gets ready to ride. Total Direct Energie photo

Romain Seigle warming up. Sirotti photo

Rigoberto Uran just before his ride. Sirotti photo

Edward Theuns just before his ride. Sirotti photo

Rein Taaramae starts his ride. Sirotti photo

Nacer Bouhanni hits the road. Sirotti photo

Evaldas Siskevicius is about to start. Sirotti photo

Filippo Ganna on his way to winning the stage. GettySport photo

Geraint Thomas in the starthouse. Sirotti photo

Michal Kwiatkowski. GettySport photo

Greg Van Avermaet. GettySport photo

Michael Gogl ended up 6th overall

Odd Christian Eiking was tenth.

Sep Van Marcke. Israel Start-Up Nation picture

Mads Pedersen. Israel Start-Up Nation picture

Connor Swift. Getty Sport photo

 

There was a climb at the end of the time trial. Arkea-Samsic posted this photo of one of their riders on his way up the hill.

Stage winner Filippo Ganna. Sirotti photo

Best Young Rider Jake Stewart. Groupama-FDJ photo.

King of the Mountains Alexandre Delettre. Sirotti photo

Points classification winner Christophe Laporte. Sirotti photo

Final GC winner Tim Wellens. Sirotti photo

The final GC podium, from left: Michal Kwiatkowski (2nd), Tim Wellens (1st) & Nils Politt (3rd). Bettini photo.

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Saturday, February 6: Stage 4, Rousson - St. Siffret, 151.6 km

Stage 4 map & profile | Stage 4 photos

The day is Filippo Ganna's. INEOS Grandiers photo

Weather at the finish city of St. Siffret at 1:50 PM, local time: 16C (60F), partly cloudy. There is an 18% chance of rain during the afternoon. The wind is from the southeast at 8 km/hr (5 mph).

The race: Stage winner Filippo Ganna's INEOS Grenadiers team posted this report.

Filippo Ganna stormed to victory on stage four at Etoile de Bessèges as the Grenadiers picked up their first victory of 2021.

Part of the day's five-man breakaway, the Italian demonstrated his time trial prowess late on as the peloton were bearing down.

With a slender 20-second gap the situation looked bleak, but the world time trial champion timed his move perfectly, pushing on solo and quickly extending out his advantage to win by 17 seconds.

Finishing in the peloton, Michal Kwiatkowski was also able to hold on to fourth place overall ahead of the final-day time trial.

Complete Results:

151.6 km raced at an average speed of 44.812 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	3hr 22min 59sec
2	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	@ 17sec
3	Pascal Ackermann	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
4	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
5	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
6	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
7	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
8	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
10	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
11	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
12	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
13	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
14	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
15	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
16	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
17	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
18	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
19	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
20	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
21	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	25
22	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
23	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
24	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
25	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
26	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
27	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
28	Mauro Finetto	Delko	33
29	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
30	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	35
31	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
32	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
33	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
34	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
35	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	39
36	Oliver Naesen	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
37	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
38	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
39	Marc Sarreau	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
40	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	42
41	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
42	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
44	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
45	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
46	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
47	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	49
48	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
49	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	53
50	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
51	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	56
52	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
53	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
54	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
56	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	56
57	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
58	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
59	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
60	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
61	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
62	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
63	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
64	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
65	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	1:06
66	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
67	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
68	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
69	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
70	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
71	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
72	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
73	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
74	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
75	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	1:23
76	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
77	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
78	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
79	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	1:28
80	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
81	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
82	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
83	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
84	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
85	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	1:35
86	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
87	Damien Touzé	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
88	Julien Duval	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
89	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
90	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	1:44
91	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	1:47
92	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	1:49
93	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
94	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	1:54
95	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
96	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
97	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	2:02
98	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
99	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	2:13
100	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	2:22
101	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
102	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
103	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	2:39
104	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	2:58
105	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
106	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
107	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	3:31
108	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:01
109	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	4:25
110	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	4:26
111	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	5:45
112	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
113	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	6:43
114	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	6:51
115	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
116	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	8:32
117	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
118	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
119	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
120	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
121	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
122	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
123	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
124	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
125	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
126	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
127	Pierre Barbier	Delko	s.t.
128	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
129	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
130	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
131	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	s.t.
132	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	s.t.
133	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
134	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
135	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	15:34
136	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	16:01

GC after stage 4:

603.8 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.132 km/hr

1	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	13hr 40min 54sec
2	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	@ 44sec
3	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	46
4	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	48
5	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	49
6	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R Citroën	50
7	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
8	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
10	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	58
11	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
12	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	1:00
13	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	1:29
14	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	1:45
15	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	2:56
16	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	3:08
17	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	3:26
18	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
19	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
20	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
21	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
22	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	3:34
23	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
24	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
25	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
26	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	3:36
27	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	3:42
28	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
29	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	3:44
30	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
31	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	3:45
32	Oliver Naesen	AG2R Citroën	3:48
33	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
34	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
35	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	3:50
36	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	3:51
37	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
38	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
39	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
40	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
41	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	4:02
42	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	4:05
43	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
44	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
45	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
46	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
47	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
48	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
49	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
50	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R Citroën	4:15
51	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
52	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
53	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
54	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	4:37
55	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
56	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
57	Damien Touzé	AG2R Citroën	4:44
58	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
59	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	4:56
60	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	4:58
61	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	5:03
62	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
63	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	5:11
64	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
65	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	5:24
66	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	5:42
67	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	6:03
68	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	6:05
69	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	6:07
70	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
71	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	6:21
72	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	6:44
73	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	10:56
74	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	10:57
75	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	11:01
76	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	11:41
77	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
78	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
79	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	12:25
80	Pascal Ackermann	Bora-hansgrohe	13:22
81	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	14:15
82	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	14:21
83	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	14:32
84	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	14:58
85	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	15:40
86	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	17:10
87	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	20:51
88	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
89	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	20:55
90	Marc Sarreau	AG2R Citroën	21:17
91	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	21:24
92	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R Citroën	21:27
93	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	21:31
94	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	21:34
95	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
96	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	21:44
97	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
98	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	22:01
99	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
100	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	22:06
101	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
102	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	22:13
103	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
104	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	22:49
105	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	22:51
106	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	23:00
107	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
108	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	23:17
109	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	23:21
110	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	23:42
111	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	24:09
112	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	24:44
113	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	24:58
114	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	25:32
115	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	25:56
116	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	26:23
117	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	27:26
118	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	27:29
119	Julien Duval	AG2R Citroën	27:43
120	Pierre Barbier	Delko	29:04
121	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	29:10
122	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
123	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
124	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
125	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
126	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
127	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
128	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
129	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	30:25
130	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	30:29
131	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	31:01
132	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
133	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	31:27
134	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	32:39
135	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	34:26
136	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	36:12

Stage 4 map & profile:

Stage four map. The city of Nîmes is just south of the course and Marseille is to the southeast

Stage 4 profile

Stage four photos:

Bora-hansgrohe riders in the mix. Bettini photo

Julien Duval gets help getting going after a wheels change. Ag2r photo.

GC 10th place Michael Gogl is surrounded by teammates.

Arkea-Samsic rider Nacer Bouhanni stays safely buried in the field.

GC third place Mads Würtz Schmidt.

Filippo Ganna leads the break before leaving it to win the stage. The FDJ rider should be Alexys Brunel. INEOS Grenadiers photo

Belgian champion Dries De Bondt (on right) was part of the break.

The day belongs to stage winner Filippo Ganna

No one in sight as Ganna wins the stage. Sirotti photo

Race leader Christophe Laporte is second and Pascal Ackermann is third. Bettini photo

Another shot of the field sprint. Sirotti photo

In the picture above this one, fourth-place Greg Van Avermet couldn't be see behind Christophe Laporte. Here is is crossing the line. Photo: Fred Machabert

B&B Hotels rider Bryan Coquard was sixth.

Stage winner Filippo Ganna. Sirotti photo

Tim Wellens will start the final stage in the GC leader's jersey. Sirotti photo

---

Friday, February 5: Stage 3, Bessèges - Bessèges, 154.8 km

Stage 3 map & profile | Stage 3 photos

Tim Wellens wins the stage and takes over the GC lead.

Weather at the start/finish city of Bessèges at 2:00 PM, local time: 14C (57F), sunny, with the wind from the west-southwest at 10 km/hr (6 mph). There is a 2% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner Tim Wellens' Lotto-Soudal team.

Tim Wellens secured Lotto Soudal's first victory of the season. The Belgian took an impressive solo victory in the third stage of Etoile de Bessèges. What had initially been announced as a stage for the sprinters turned out to be a totally different scenario. Immediately after the third stage of the Etoile de Bessèges kicked off, attacks were flying and a real fight to form the breakaway took place. Tim Wellens played one of the main roles in an effort to create the decisive breakaway. After an attractive and furious beginning, a large front group of seventeen riders finally formed. Lotto Soudal was the best represented team in the front group with the trio Gilbert-Oldani-Wellens.

The cooperation was perfect in the front group and despite a heavy pursuit in the peloton, the lead kept fluctuating around two minutes. It soon became clear that the front group would fight for victory and at around fifteen kilometres from the end, the tactical battle began. Wellens took his chance downhill and attacked. The 29-year-old Lotto Soudal rider quickly gained a nice advantage, didn’t look back and powered towards the finish in Bessèges, where he could celebrate his first victory of the season. Wellens won with a lead of over 30 seconds, Philippe Gilbert finished fifth.

“I couldn’t imagine a better start of the season”, reacts Tim Wellens. “Before the stage, I had already decided to go into the breakaway. We had a look at the course in the bus beforehand and noticed that the beginning of the stage was marked by hilly terrain, including several technical and wet descents. So, quite a tough stage. The level in this peloton is really high. A lot of riders would be interested in being part of the breakaway. So, I was really attentive to absolutely be up there. However, it took a long time before the right breakaway formed. A lot of good riders were in it, so it was immediately clear that we were going to battle it out for the win.”

“I saw my chance in the descent”, Wellens continued. "I took some advantage and teammate Oldani played it perfectly. Then, it was just a time trial to the finish. I also did the descent on the limit, I saw some oil on the road and the motorbike in front of me had a hard time keeping his line. Luckily, I was able to stay upright and I could further increase my lead.”

His impressive solo victory earns Wellens the lead in the general classification. Tomorrow, Wellens will start in Rousson with a 44-second lead on Edward Theuns, second overall.

“I now have a 48-second lead on Kwiatkowski in the general classification. Tomorrow, it will be difficult to further extend my advantage. But I will be happy if I can hold that lead going into Sunday’s time trial. If I feel good, I know it will be difficult to give away the overall victory. But you never know of course. Everyone can have a bad day, but we already did a recon of the time trial and the course suits me. First, it’s eight kilometres flat, followed by a short climb, which should be something for me. Hopefully, there won’t be too much chaos tomorrow and we can control things”, concludes the 29-year-old Lotto Soudal rider.

Complete Results:

154.8 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.647 km/hr

1	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	3hr 28min 2sec
2	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	@ 37sec
3	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
4	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
5	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
6	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
7	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
8	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
9	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
10	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
11	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
12	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
13	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
14	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
15	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	@ 1min 2sec
16	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	3:13
17	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
18	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
19	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
20	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
21	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
22	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
23	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
24	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
25	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
26	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
27	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
28	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
29	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
30	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
31	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
32	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
33	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
34	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
35	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
36	Damien Touzé	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
37	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
38	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
39	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
40	Oliver Naesen	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
41	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
42	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
43	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
44	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
45	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
46	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
47	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
48	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
49	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
50	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
51	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
52	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	s.t.
53	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
54	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
56	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
57	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
58	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
59	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
60	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
61	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
62	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	s.t.
63	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
64	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
65	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
66	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
67	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
68	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
69	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
70	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
71	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
72	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
73	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
74	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
75	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
76	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
77	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	3:47
78	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	8:41
79	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	8:42
80	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	11:23
81	Pascal Ackermann	Bora-hansgrohe	13:13
82	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
83	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	s.t.
84	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
85	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
86	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
87	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
88	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
89	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	14:48
90	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	19:49
91	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R Citroën	20:42
92	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
93	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
94	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
95	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
96	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
97	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
98	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
99	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
100	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
101	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
102	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	s.t.
103	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
104	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
105	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
106	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
107	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
108	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
109	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
110	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
111	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
112	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
113	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
114	Pierre Barbier	Delko	s.t.
115	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
116	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
117	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
118	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
119	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
120	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
121	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
122	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
123	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
124	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
125	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
126	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
127	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
128	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
129	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
130	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
131	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
132	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
133	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
134	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	s.t.
135	Marc Sarreau	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
136	Julien Duval	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
137	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	s.t.

GC after stage 3:

452.2 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.929 km/hr

1	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	10hr 17min 38sec
2	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	@ 44sec
3	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	46
4	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	48
5	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	49
6	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	50
7	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
8	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
9	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
10	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
11	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
12	Nils Politt	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
13	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
14	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	1:15
15	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	1:27
16	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	3:14
17	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	3:18
18	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	3:22
19	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	3:25
20	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	3:26
21	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
22	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
23	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
24	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
25	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
26	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
27	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
28	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
29	Oliver Naesen	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
30	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
31	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
32	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
33	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
34	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
35	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
36	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
37	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
38	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
39	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
40	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
41	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
42	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
43	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
44	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
45	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
46	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
47	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
48	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
49	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
50	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
51	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
52	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
53	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
54	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
56	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
57	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
58	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
59	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
60	Damien Touzé	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
61	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
62	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
63	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
64	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
65	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
66	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
67	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
68	Felix Großschartner	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
69	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
70	Lukas Pöstlberger	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
71	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	4:00
72	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	4:09
73	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	5:17
74	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
75	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	5:20
76	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	5:29
77	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	7:17
78	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	8:55
79	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	10:17
80	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	11:36
81	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	13:26
82	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
83	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
84	Pascal Ackermann	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
85	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	14:03
86	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	15:15
87	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	15:17
88	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	15:43
89	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	16:29
90	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	20:02
91	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	20:45
92	Pierre Barbier	Delko	20:49
93	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	20:50
94	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	20:51
95	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	20:52
96	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	20:55
97	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
98	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
99	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
100	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
101	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
102	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
103	Marc Sarreau	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
104	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
105	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
106	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
107	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
108	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
109	Jordi Meeus	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
110	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R Citroën	s.t.
111	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
112	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
113	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
114	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
115	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
116	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
117	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
118	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
119	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
120	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
121	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
122	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
123	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
124	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
125	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
126	Frederik Wandahl	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
127	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	21:38
128	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	22:42
129	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	22:46
130	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
131	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	23:55
132	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	23:59
133	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	24:24
134	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
135	Patrick Gamper	Bora-hansgrohe	26:11
136	Julien Duval	AG2R Citroën	26:25
137	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	30:21

Stage 3 map & profile

Stage 3 map. The city of Marseille is south-southeast of the course.

Stage 3 profile

Stage 3 photos:

Leaving Bessèges

Nils Politt in the day's break. Bora-hansgrohe photo

This rider's supertuck position is probably going to be illegal soon. Ag2r photo

Ag2r has come up with a striking jersey and bike paint scheme combination.

EF Pro Cycling certainly isn't being shy either.

He's gone. Tim Wellens heads for the finish. Photo: Photo News

Tim Wellens takes the stage and the GC lead. Photo: Photo News

Edward Theuns takes the field sprint for second. Trek-Segafredo photo

Cyril Barthe was sixth.

Former world champion Michel Kwiatkowski finished 11th. Getty image.

Tim Wellens is the new GC leader. Photo: Photo News.

---

Thursday, February 4: Stage 2, Saint Geniès de Malgoirès - La Calmette, 153.8 km

Stage 2 map & profile | Stage 2 photos

Timothy Dupont (far left) just beats Pierre Barbier. Team Delko photo

Weather at the finish city of La Calmette at 1:30 PM, local time: 13C (55F), mostly cloudy, with the wind from the southeast at 6 km/hr (4 mph). There is just a 3% chance of rain during the afternoon.

The race: Here's the report from Team Lotto-Soudal.

The second stage of the Etoile de Bessèges was one for the sprinters, but was unfortunately marred by several crashes at the end of the race. It was the Belgian Timothy Dupont who took the win in a disrupted bunch sprint. Lotto Soudal youngster Gerben Thijssen finished 8th. Tomorrow's stage is expected to be another chance for the fast guys. Thijssen reacts disappointed about today’s result.

“My teammates had a lot of confidence in me today and it is such a pity that I couldn’t reward them for that”, says Gerben Thijssen. “I made the mistake of being a little too far back in the final. Fortunately, I was able to dodge the crashes, but there was so much more possible than 8th place.”

“It really is a fantastic feeling to have the support of the entire team. To be able to rely on a rider like John Degenkolb in the run-up to the sprint is really great. He gives me a lot of tips and I learn a lot from him, he’s the ‘teacher’ I missed in the past few years. The important thing now is to learn from my mistakes and focus on tomorrow.”

“I really hope to show my maximal sprint tomorrow. And then we’ll just see where that will bring me”, concludes the young Lotto Soudal rider.

Complete Results:

153.8 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.871 km/hr

1	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	3hr 35min 15sec
2	Pierre Barbier	Delko	s.t.
3	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
4	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
5	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	s.t.
6	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
7	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
8	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
9	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
10	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
11	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
12	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
13	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
14	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
15	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
16	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
17	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
18	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
19	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
20	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
21	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
22	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
23	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
24	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
25	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
26	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
27	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
28	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
29	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
30	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
31	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
32	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
33	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
34	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
35	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
36	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
37	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
38	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
39	Lawrence Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
40	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
41	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
42	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
43	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
44	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
45	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
46	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
47	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
48	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
49	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
50	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
51	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
52	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
53	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
54	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
55	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
56	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
57	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
58	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
59	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
60	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
61	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
62	Nils Politt	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
63	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
64	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
65	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
66	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
67	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
68	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
69	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
70	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
71	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
72	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	s.t.
73	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
74	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
75	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
76	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
77	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
78	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
79	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
80	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
81	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
82	Felix Großschartner	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
83	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
84	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
85	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
86	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
87	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
88	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
89	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
90	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
91	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
92	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
93	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
94	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
95	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
96	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	@ 37sec
97	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
98	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	@ 0sec
99	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
100	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
101	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
102	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
103	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	42
104	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	43
105	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
106	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	@ 0sec
107	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	1:23
108	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	@ 0sec
109	Barry Miller	Cambodia Cycling Academy	1:23
110	Enrique Sanz	Kern Pharma	s.t.
111	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	@ 0sec
112	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	@ 0sec
113	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	1:47
114	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	1:49
115	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	1:51
116	Antoine Berlin	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
117	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
118	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
119	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
120	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	s.t.
121	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	1:54
122	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	@ 0sec
123	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	2:03
124	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	@ 0sec
125	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
126	Frederik Wandahl	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
127	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	3:00
128	Christopher Lamaille	Cambodia Cycling Academy	3:01
129	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	3:03
130	Pascal Ackermann	BORA-hansgrohe	@ 0sec
131	Jordi Meeus	BORA-hansgrohe	@ 0sec
132	Lukas Pöstlberger	BORA-hansgrohe	@ 0sec
133	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	3:07
134	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	3:29
135	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	3:29
136	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	3:51
137	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	@ 0sec
138	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	5:16
139	Julien Duval	Ag2r-Citroën	5:30
140	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	9:26
141	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	@ 0sec
142	Boris Vallée	Bingoal-WB	@ 0sec

GC after stage 2:

297.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.563 km/hr

1	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	6hr 49min 37sec
2	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	@ 2sec
3	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	4
4	Pierre Barbier	Delko	6
5	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	7
6	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	8
7	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
8	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	9
9	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	11
10	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	12
11	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
12	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
13	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
14	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
15	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
16	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
17	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
18	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
19	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
20	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
21	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
22	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
23	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
24	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
25	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
26	Oliver Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
27	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
28	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
29	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
30	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
31	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
32	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
33	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
34	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
35	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
36	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
37	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
38	Nils Politt	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
39	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
40	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
41	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
42	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
43	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
44	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
45	Alexis Gougeard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
46	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
47	Marc Sarreau	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
48	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
49	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
50	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
51	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
52	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
53	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
54	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
55	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
56	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
57	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
58	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
59	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
60	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
61	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
62	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
63	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
64	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
65	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
66	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
67	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
68	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
69	Jordi Meeus	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
70	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
71	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
72	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
73	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
74	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
75	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
76	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
77	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
78	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
79	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
80	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
81	Boris Vallée	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
82	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
83	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
84	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
85	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
86	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
87	Lawrence Naesen	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
88	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
89	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
90	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
91	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
92	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
93	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
94	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
95	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
96	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
97	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
98	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
99	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
100	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
101	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
102	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
103	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
104	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
105	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
106	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
107	Felix Großschartner	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
108	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
109	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
110	Pascal Ackermann	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
111	Lukas Pöstlberger	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
112	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
113	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
114	Frederik Wandahl	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
115	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	49
116	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
117	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	54
118	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	55
119	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
120	Enrique Sanz	Kern Pharma	1:35
121	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
122	Barry Miller	Cambodia Cycling Academy	1:35
123	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	s.t.
124	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	2:01
125	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	2:03
126	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
127	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
128	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
129	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
130	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	2:06
131	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	2:15
132	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	3:12
133	Christopher Lamaille	Cambodia Cycling Academy	3:13
134	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	3:15
135	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	3:16
136	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	3:41
137	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
138	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	4:03
139	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	5:28
140	Julien Duval	Ag2r-Citroën	5:42
141	Antoine Berlin	Cambodia Cycling Academy	8:44
142	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	9:38

Stage 2 map & profile:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Stage 2 photos:

Here they come. Qhubeka-Assos photo

Timothy Dupont (far left) takes the stage. Sirotti photo

Here's another view of the sprint. Photo: Nico Vereecken/Photo News

Stage winner Timothy Dupont. Sirotti photo

GC leader Christophe Laporte will start stage three in the leader's jersey. Sirotti photo

---

Wednesday, February 3: Stage 1, Bellegarde - Bellegarde, 143.6 km

Stage 1 map & profile | Photos

Christophe Laporte wins stage one just ahead of Nacer Bouhanni. Gettysport photo

Weather at the start/finish city of Bellegarde at 2:00 PM, local time: 16 C (61F), cloudy, with the wind from the southeast at 18 km/hr (11 mph). There is a 2% chance of rain.

The race: Team Sport Vlaanderen:Baloise did not start. The team posted this notice on their Facebook page:

PRESS RELEASE Etoile de Bessèges 2021
We hereby inform you that the UCI ProTeam Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise, to their great regret, will not participate in the French five-day stage race Etoile de Bessèges. As Covid-19 is suspected in a member of the staff, it has been decided as a precautionary measure not to start pending the results of the PCR tests, in the interest of the sport, the organisers and the other participants.

Here's the race report from 3rd-place Mads Pedersen's Trek-Segafredo team:

It was a nervous first race with a gritty ending, but Mads Pedersen and his Trek-Segafredo teammates showed composure and pulled off a podium finish in their first race of the year.

Tucked behind teammate Alex Kirsch, Mads Pedersen came into the final kilometer of Stage 1 at the Etoile de Besseges at the front of the fast-flying bunch and let his legs do the rest.

Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa Samsic) and Christophe Laport (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) jumped 500 meters from the line and possibly thwarted a better finish, still, a 3rd place in the tricky uphill finish was an excellent start to the season for Pedersen, who is evolving into a top rider for mass sprint endings.

“Normally, this fits me quite well – Tour of Denmark has a stage similar to this – but yeah, pretty tough finale and the guys did a super god job to keep me out of trouble the whole day.  Alex (Kirsch) put me [in great position] for the last climb – it was a good start of the season.”

The peloton had a first look at the finishing kilometers with 40 kilometers to go.  The second time, Trek-Segafredo made no mistakes: Kirsch and Pedersen were first into a narrow sweeping turn ahead of the climb.

“It was a stressful final,” agreed Pedersen. “With 3 or 4 kilometers to go, we were on a big road and going very fast, and you come from like three lanes straight into one with cornering, roundabouts in the city.  And then you have the last K of 300 meters uphill and 200 meters flat – so a pretty rough last kilometer.”

The 2019 World Champion is a recognized Classics specialist – Mads was hoping for crosswinds in Stage 1 to make a hard race and throw him into his element – but he’s also progressing into a top sprinter, proving that his results in the sprint finishes of last year’s Tour de France were not happenstance.

“It was super stressful today. Normally there are crosswinds here, but today there was no wind at all, so everyone was fresh, and everyone was thinking they could do a good result,” said Pedersen. “The first half was okay; the second half was stressful.”

Stress that the young Dane and his teammates could handle.

Complete Results:

143.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 44.291 km/hr

1	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	3hr 14min 32sec
2	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
3	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	@ 2sec
4	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
5	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
6	Jordi Meeus	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
7	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
8	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
9	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
10	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
11	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
12	Boris Vallée	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
13	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
14	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
15	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
16	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
17	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
18	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
19	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
20	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
21	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
22	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
23	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
24	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
25	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
26	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
27	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
28	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
29	Nils Politt	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
30	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
31	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
32	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
33	Damien Touzé	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
34	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
35	Oliver Naesen	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
36	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	s.t.
37	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
38	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
39	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
40	Enrique Sanz	Kern Pharma	s.t.
41	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
42	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
43	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
44	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
45	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
46	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
47	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
48	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
49	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
50	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
51	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
52	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
53	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
54	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
56	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
57	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
58	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
59	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
60	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
61	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
62	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
63	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
64	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
65	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
66	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
67	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
68	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
69	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
70	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
71	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
72	Christopher Lamaille	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
73	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
74	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
75	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	s.t.
76	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	s.t.
77	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
78	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
79	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
80	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
81	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
82	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
83	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
84	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
85	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
86	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
87	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
88	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
89	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
90	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
91	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
92	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
93	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
94	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
95	Marc Sarreau	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
96	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
97	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
98	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
99	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
100	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
101	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
102	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
103	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
104	Lukas Pöstlberger	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
105	Pascal Ackermann	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
106	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
107	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
108	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
109	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
110	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
111	Barry Miller	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
112	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
113	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
114	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
115	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
116	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
117	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
118	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
119	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
120	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
121	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
122	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
123	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
124	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
125	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
126	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
127	Michael Valgren	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
128	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
129	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
130	Frederik Wandahl	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
131	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
132	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
133	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
134	Julien Duval	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
135	Antoine Berlin	Cambodia Cycling Academy	6min 43sec
136	Pierre Barbier	Delko	@ 2sec
137	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
138	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
139	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
140	Felix Großschartner	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
141	Andreas Stokbro	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
142	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	s.t.
143	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
144	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.

GC after stage 1:

1	Christophe Laporte	Cofidis	3hr 14min 22sec
2	Nacer Bouhanni	Arkéa-Samsic	@ 4sec
3	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	@ 8sec
4	Giacomo Nizzolo	Qhubeka-Assos	@ 12sec
5	Michal Kwiatkowski	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
6	Jordi Meeus	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
7	Bryan Coquard	B&B Hotels	s.t.
8	John Degenkolb	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
9	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
10	Danny van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
11	Tim Merlier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
12	Boris Vallée	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
13	Vincenzo Nibali	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
14	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
15	Greg Van Avermaet	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
16	Cyril Barthe	B&B Hotels	s.t.
17	Milan Menten	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
18	Francisco Galván	Kern Pharma	s.t.
19	Anthony Turgis	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
20	August Jensen	Delko	s.t.
21	Roger Adriá	Kern Pharma	s.t.
22	Arjen Livyns	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
23	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
24	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
25	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
26	Fabian Lienhard	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
27	Dylan Kowalski	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
28	Jérémy Lecroq	B&B Hotels	s.t.
29	Nils Politt	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
30	Jonas Rutsch	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
31	Michael Gogl	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
32	Johan Le Bon	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
33	Damien Touzé	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
34	Evaldas Siskevicius	Delko	s.t.
35	Oliver Naesen	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
36	Cyril Lemoine	B&B Hotels	s.t.
37	Owain Doull	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
38	Silvan Dillier	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
39	Jenthe Biermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
40	Enrique Sanz	Kern Pharma	s.t.
41	Tobias Bayer	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
42	Eduard Michael Grosu	Delko	s.t.
43	Clément Carisey	Delko	s.t.
44	Lukasz Wisniowski	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
45	Romain Cardis	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
46	Yoann Paillot	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
47	Maximilien Picoux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
48	Stefano Oldani	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
49	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
50	Gerben Thijssen	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
51	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
52	Jens Debusschere	B&B Hotels	s.t.
53	Bram Welten	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
54	Daniel McLay	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Alexis Renard	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
56	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
57	Benjamin Thomas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
58	Ben Hermans	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
59	Lars Van Den Berg	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
60	Alexys Brunel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
61	Joel Suter	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
62	Ryan Mullen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
63	Samuel Leroux	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
64	Alexis Gougeard	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
65	Edward Theuns	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
66	Pierre Latour	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
67	Odd Christian Eiking	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
68	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
69	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
70	Mauro Finetto	Delko	s.t.
71	Patrick Gamper	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
72	Christopher Lamaille	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
73	Raúl García	Kern Pharma	s.t.
74	Edvald Boasson Hagen	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
75	Kevin Reza	B&B Hotels	s.t.
76	Alexandre Delettre	Delko	s.t.
77	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
78	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
79	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
80	Tim Wellens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
81	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
82	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
83	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
84	Rein Taaramäe	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
85	Jonas Koch	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
86	Senne Leysen	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
87	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
88	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
89	Geoffrey Soupe	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
90	Otto Vergaerde	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
91	Rudy Barbier	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
92	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
93	Jempy Drucker	Cofidis	s.t.
94	Simon Clarke	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
95	Marc Sarreau	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
96	Guillaume Boivin	Israel Start-Up Nation	s.t.
97	Geraint Thomas	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
98	Emiel Vermeulen	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
99	William Bonnet	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
100	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
101	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
102	Kenneth Vanbilsen	Cofidis	s.t.
103	Adrien Petit	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
104	Lukas Pöstlberger	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
105	Pascal Ackermann	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
106	Julius Van Den Berg	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
107	Niki Terpstra	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
108	Tom Devriendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
109	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
110	Samy Aurignac	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
111	Barry Miller	Cambodia Cycling Academy	s.t.
112	Andreas Kron	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
113	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
114	Tom Bohli	Cofidis	s.t.
115	Egan Bernal	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
116	Rigoberto Uran	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
117	Tony Hurel	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
118	Flavien Maurelet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
119	Jason Tesson	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
120	Martí Márquez	Kern Pharma	s.t.
121	Timothy Dupont	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
122	Valentin Tabellion	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
123	Matteo Pelucchi	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
124	Lawrence Naesen	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
125	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
126	Quentin Pacher	B&B Hotels	s.t.
127	Michael Valgren	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
128	Romain Seigle	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
129	Emmanuel Morin	Cofidis	s.t.
130	Frederik Wandahl	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
131	Christopher Lawless	Total Direct Energie	s.t.
132	Sean Bennett	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
133	Sebastian Langeveld	EF Education-NIPPO	s.t.
134	Julien Duval	AG2R-Citroën	s.t.
135	Pierre Barbier	Delko	s.t.
136	Ludovic Robeet	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
137	Ivan Centrone	Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
138	Urko Berrade	Kern Pharma	s.t.
139	Felix Großschartner	BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
140	Andreas Stokbro	Qhubeka-Assos	s.t.
141	Vojtech Repa	Kern Pharma	s.t.
142	Louis Louvet	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
143	Morne Van Niekerk	St. Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
144	Antoine Berlin	Cambodia Cycling Academy	6:53

Stage 1 map & profile:

Stage one map. The city of Nîmes is just to the west and Marseille (not on the map) is just to the southeast.

Stage 1 profile

Stage one photos:

The Cofidis team lined out.

Team INEOS Grenadiers hit the front.

Looks like a nice, though cool day for a bike race.

This looks like the moment when Nacer Bouhanni bolts on the final hill with Christophe Laporte going after him.

Christophe Laporte beats the speedy Bouhanni to the line.

Anouther view of the finish. Sirotti photo

Former world champion (see the rainbow stripes on his sleeves) Mads Pedersen gets third.

Christophe Laporte enjoys his win.

Laporte gives a post-race interview. Sirotti photo

---

Start list with back numbers, February 2, 2021:

	AG2R CITROEN
1	VAN AVERMAET Greg
2	NAESEN Oliver
3	SARREAU Marc
4	DUVAL Julien
5	GOUGEARD Alexis
6	NAESEN Lawrence
7	TOUZÉ Damien
	INEOS GRENADIERS
11	BERNAL Egan
12	DOULL Owain
13	GANNA Filippo
14	HAYTER Ethan
15	KWIATKOWSKI Michal
16	THOMAS Geraint
17	PUCCIO Salvatore
	TREK-SEGAFREDO
21	KIRSCH Alex
22	MULLEN Ryan
23	NIBALI Vincenzo
24	MOLLEMA Bauke
25	JENSEN Mattias
26	PEDERSEN Mads
27	THEUNS Edward
	GROUPAMA-FDJ
31	BRUNEL Alexys
32	LIENHARD Fabian
33	BONNET William
34	STEWART Jake
35	THOMAS Benjamin
36	VAN DEN BERG Lars
37	SEIGLE Romain
	EF EDUCATION-NIPPO
41	BETTIOL Alberto
42	KEUKELEIRE Jens
43	LANGEVELD Sebastian
44	RUTSCH Jonas
45	URAN Rigoberto
46	VALGREN ANDERSEN Michael
47	VAN DEN BERG Julius
	TOTAL DIRECT ENERGIE
51	BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
52	SOUPE Geoffrey
53	LATOUR Pierre
54	LAWLESS Christopher
55	PETIT Adrien
56	TERPSTRA Niki
57	TURGIS Anthony
	LOTTO SOUDAL
61	DEGENKOLB John
62	GILBERT Philippe
63	WELLENS Tim
64	KRON Andreas
65	OLDANI Stefano
66	THIJSSEN Gerben
67	VAN MOER Brent
	BORA-HANSGROHE
71	GROßSCHARTNER Felix
72	POLITT Nils
73	MEEUS Jordi
74	ACKERMANN Pascal
75	PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
76	GAMPER Patrick
77	WANDAHL Frederik
	ARKÉA-SAMSIC
81	BOUHANNI Nacer
82	WELTEN Bram
83	MCLAY Daniel
84	OWSIAN Lukasz
85	RUSSO Clement
86	LOUVEL Matis
87	SWIFT Connor
	ISRAEL START-UP NATION
91	BARBIER Rudy
92	BIERMANS Jenthe
93	BOIVIN Guillaume
94	HERMANS Ben
95	RENARD Alexis
96	WÜRTZ SCHMIDT Mads
97	VANMARCKE Sep
	COFIDIS
101	LAPORTE Christophe
102	DRUCKER Jean Pierre
103	ALLEGAERT Piet
104	BOHLI Tom
105	MORIN Emmanuel
106	PEREZ Anthony
107	VANBILSEN Kenneth
	INTERMARCHÉ-WANTY-GOBERT MATÉRIAUX
111	KOCH Jonas
112	DELACROIX Théo
113	DEVRIENDT Tom
114	EIKING Odd Christian
115	VAN POPPEL Boy
116	TAARAMAE Rein
117	VAN POPPEL Danny
	QHUBEKA-ASSOS
121	BENNETT Sean
122	CLARKE Simon
123	GOGL Michael
124	STOKBRO NIELSEN Andreas
125	PELUCCHI Matteo
126	WISNIOWSKI Lukasz
127	NIZZOLO Giacomo
	B&B HOTELS
131	COQUARD Bryan
132	BARTHE Cyril
133	DEBUSSCHERE Jens
134	LECROQ Jérémy
135	LEMOINE Cyril
136	PACHER Quentin
137	REZA Kévin
	ALPECIN-FENIX
141	DILLIER Silvan
142	BAYER Tobias
143	MERLIER Tim
144	GAZE Samuel
145	LEYSEN Senne
146	DE BONDT Dries
147	VERGAERDE Otto
	SPORT VLAANDEREN-BALOISE Did not start because of suspected Covid-19 case
151	DE VYLDER Lindsay
152	HERREGODTS Rune
153	REYNDERS Jens
154	VAN DEN BOSSCHE Fabio
155	VAN ROOY Kenneth
156	WEEMAES Sasha
157	WILLEMS Thimo
	DELKO
161	BARBIER Pierre
162	CARISEY Clément
163	DELETTRE Alexandre
164	FINETTO Mauro
165	GROSU Eduard
166	SISKEVICIUS Evaldas
167	JENSEN August
	BINGOAL-WB
171	LIVYNS Arjen
172	DUPONT Timothy
173	MENTEN Milan
174	PAQUOT Tom
175	ROBEET Ludovic
176	SUTER Joel
177	VALLEE Boris
	ST MICHEL-AUBER 93
181	CARDIS Romain
182	HUREL Tony
183	LOUVET Louis
184	MAURELET Flavien
185	PAILLOT Yoann
186	TESSON Jason
187	VAN NIEKERK Morne
	KERN PHARMA
191	MÁRQUEZ ROMAN Martí
192	GALVÁN Francisco
193	SANZ Enrique
194	ADRIÁ Roger
195	BERRADE Urko
196	REPA Vojtech
197	GARCÍA Raúl
	XELLISS-ROUBAIX LILLE METROPOLE
201	VERMEULEN Emiel
202	CENTRONE Ivan
203	KOWALSKI Dylan
204	LEROUX Samuel
205	PICOUX Maximilien
206	TABELLION Valentin
207	LEVASSEUR Jordan
	CAMBODIA CYCLING ACADEMY
211	AURIGNAC Samy
212	LE BON Johan
213	BERLIN Antoine
214	MILLER Barry
217	LAMAILLE Christopher