2024 Etoile de Bessèges (2.1), France

54th edition: January 31 - February 4, 2024

Etoile de Bessèges podium history | 2023 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

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Sunday, February 4: 5th & Final Stage, Alès - Alès Site de l'Ermitage 10.645 km individual time trial

Stage 5 map | Stage 5 photos

Mads Pedersen riding to overall victory in the 2024 Etoile de Bessèges. Sirotti photo

Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available in print, Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the race city of Alès at 1:35 PM, local time: 19C (66F), fair, with the wind from the north at 11 km/hr (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from final GC winner Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek.

Mads Pedersen had viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the final stage time trial in Alès at Etoile de Bessèges. The Dane was pushing his limits throughout the time trial, so much so that he came close to calamity when he lost grip with his front wheel in a corner. Fortunately, Pedersen kept himself upright and quickly powered away, but with Kévlin Vauquelin setting the fastest time by a significant margin it would require a big effort from the Dane on the final climb to hold on to the race lead. Pedersen churned his way up the climb as the seconds ticked by and frantic viewers attempted to calculate if he could pull it off. In the end, an exhausted Pedersen crossed the line second fastest, but close enough to Vauquelin that he could wrap up the general classification by two seconds.

Mads' Reaction
It was a good day, it's nice to have a GC victory this early in the season and the perfect way to end a week like this. The Team rode super nice the whole week and it's great to finish it off with a strong time trial. It was a difficult situation to lose the front wheel in that corner but in the end we managed to make up for it and keep the GC within reach. Of course, two seconds is a close one, but last year we lost by just one second and this year we won with two, so we knew it would be a tight result. All in all, we're pretty happy with this start to the season. The shape is where it should be and we're looking forward to racing in Provence next week.

Complete results:

Stage 5 photos

10.645 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.486 km/hr

1	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	15min 2sec
2	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	@ 10sec
3	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:14
4	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	0:22
5	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	0:24
6	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	0:27
7	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	0:36
8	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	0:37
9	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:38
10	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:39
11	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	0:41
12	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
13	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	0:43
14	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
15	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:48
16	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
17	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
18	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	0:49
19	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
20	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:50
21	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	0:51
22	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
23	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	0:53
24	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	0:57
25	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
26	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
27	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:58
28	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
29	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
30	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	1:03
31	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	1:04
32	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
33	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	1:07
34	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
35	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	1:08
36	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	1:09
37	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
38	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	1:10
39	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	1:12
40	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	1:14
41	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
42	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:15
43	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	1:16
44	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:17
45	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:18
46	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	1:19
47	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
48	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:20
49	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:21
50	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
51	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
52	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
53	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	1:22
54	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	1:24
55	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:27
56	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
57	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
58	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
59	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
60	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:29
61	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	1:30
62	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
63	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:33
64	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
65	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	1:34
66	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	s.t.
67	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
68	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
69	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	1:35
70	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
71	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:37
72	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	1:40
73	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
74	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	1:41
75	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:42
76	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:46
77	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
78	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:48
79	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
80	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	1:49
81	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:50
82	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	1:51
83	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
84	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	s.t.
85	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	1:52
86	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:53
87	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
88	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:55
89	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	1:57
90	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:59
91	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	s.t.
92	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
93	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	2:00
94	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
95	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	2:01
96	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:02
97	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
98	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:07
99	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	2:08
100	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:11
101	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
102	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:12
103	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:14
104	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:15
105	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
106	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	2:16
107	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:18
108	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
109	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	2:19
110	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	2:21
111	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:23
112	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:26
113	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
114	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:27
115	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	2:29
116	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	2:30
117	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:31
118	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:32
119	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:35
120	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
121	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:36
122	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:41
123	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	2:54
124	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:55
125	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	3:03
126	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	3:06
127	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	4:00

 

Final GC after stage 5:

• GC winner: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Mountains classification winner: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)
• Points classification winner: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Best young rider: Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
• Teams classification winner: Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale

493.815 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.281 km/hr

1	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	11hr 24min 34sec
2	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	@ 2sec
3	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:32
4	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	0:43
5	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:51
6	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
7	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:54
8	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:56
9	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	0:58
10	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	0:59
11	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	1:01
12	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:03
13	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
14	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	1:06
15	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	1:10
16	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
17	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:18
18	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	1:26
19	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	1:31
20	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:44
21	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	1:48
22	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	1:48
23	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:52
24	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	1:59
25	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
26	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:03
27	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:04
28	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
29	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:05
30	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
31	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	2:17
32	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:23
33	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:24
34	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:26
35	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:35
36	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	2:36
37	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:38
38	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	2:50
39	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	3:05
40	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	3:15
41	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:20
42	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	3:27
43	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
44	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	3:37
45	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	3:49
46	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	3:52
47	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	3:53
48	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	3:56
49	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	4:03
50	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	4:11
51	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
52	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	4:23
53	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	4:29
54	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	s.t.
55	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	4:31
56	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:40
57	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	4:46
58	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	4:54
59	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	5:10
60	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	5:12
61	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	5:17
62	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	5:24
63	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	5:25
64	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	5:28
65	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	6:04
66	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	6:15
67	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	6:20
68	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	6:32
69	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	6:44
70	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	6:57
71	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	7:19
72	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	7:21
73	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	7:39
74	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	8:11
75	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	8:28
76	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	8:30
77	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	8:33
78	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	8:53
79	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	9:36
80	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	9:51
81	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	10:05
82	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	10:32
83	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	11:17
84	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	12:06
85	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	12:07
86	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	12:23
87	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	12:23
88	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	12:45
89	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	13:08
90	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	13:20
91	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	14:02
92	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	14:05
93	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	14:54
94	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	15:38
95	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	15:46
96	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	16:16
97	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	16:26
98	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	16:36
99	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	16:52
100	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	17:07
101	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	17:32
102	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	17:42
103	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	18:13
104	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	18:26
105	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	18:27
106	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	18:53
107	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	19:13
108	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	19:58
109	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	20:03
110	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	20:13
111	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	20:33
112	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	20:48
113	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	20:52
114	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	20:55
115	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	21:04
116	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	21:26
117	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	21:27
118	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	21:32
119	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	21:38
120	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	22:09
121	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	22:16
122	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	24:25
123	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	25:30
124	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	26:04
125	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	27:19
126	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	28:42
127	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	29:32

 

Stage 5 map:

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Team Flanders-Baloise rider Arno Claeys was 108th, at 2min 18sec

Tim Declerq was 94th at 2min 0sec

Groupama-FDJ rider Marc Sarreau was 79th, at 1min 48sec

Alexander Kristoff riding to 59th, at 1min 27sec

Alberto Bettiol riding to third place

Mads Pedersen's second place in the time trial was good enough to give him overall victory.

Kévin Vauquelin was the fastest man of the day.

The final GC podium, from left: Kévin Vauquelin (2nd), Mads Pedersen (1st) & Alberto Bettiol (3rd)

Winner of the 2024 Etoile de Bésseges Mads Pedersen

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Saturday, February 3: Stage 4, Méjannes le Clap - Méjannes le Clap, 158.48 km

Stage 4 map

A delighted Samuel Leroux wins stage four. Photo: Xavier-Inc_cyclisme

Stoic philosopher Epictetus' Golden Sayings is available in both audiobook & Kindle eBook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Méjannes le Clap at 1:45 PM, local time: 18C (65C), sunny, with the wind from the north at 10 km/hr (6mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Team Arkea-B&B Hotels posted this short note:

Kévin Vauquelin is still 3rd in the general classification of the Étoile de Bessèges ahead of the individual time trial in Alès.

Yvon Ledanois, Sport director:
“As we might have guessed from the bonuses awarded at the finishes, Sunday Alès-Alès time trial, with its ascent of the Ermitage, will be decisive. Kévin Vauquelin is still twelve seconds behind Mads Pedersen this evening. I don’t want to say that I would have signed up for such a position on the eve of the finish, at the start of this race, because I’ve always had confidence in Kévin, but it’s a good position for him.  I’m confident about Sunday, and based on what I’ve seen from Kévin over the last two days of racing, I think he’s in with a chance of winning this Étoile de Bessèges 2024.”

Complete results:

158.48 kilometers raced at an average speed of 45.598 km/hr

1	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	3hr 28min 32sec
2	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
3	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
4	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	@ 2sec
5	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
6	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
7	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
8	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
9	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
10	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
11	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
12	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
13	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
14	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
15	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
16	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
17	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
18	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
19	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
20	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
21	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
22	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
23	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
24	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
25	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
26	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
27	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
28	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
29	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
30	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
31	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
32	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
33	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
34	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
35	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
36	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
37	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
38	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
39	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
40	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
41	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
42	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
43	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
44	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
45	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
46	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
47	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
48	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
49	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
50	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
51	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
52	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
53	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
54	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	0:09
55	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	0:13
56	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
57	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	0:19
58	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
59	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	0:25
60	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	0:27
61	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	0:29
62	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	0:32
63	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	0:35
64	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	0:41
65	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
66	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:47
67	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	0:51
68	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
69	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
70	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
71	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
72	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
73	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	s.t.
74	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	0:53
75	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:59
76	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
77	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
78	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
79	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
80	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
81	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:26
82	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
83	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	1:45
84	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
85	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:50
86	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	2:00
87	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
88	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	s.t.
89	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	s.t.
90	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
91	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	s.t.
92	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
93	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	s.t.
94	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	2:35
95	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
96	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	2:47
97	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
98	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
99	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:50
100	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
101	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	3:20
102	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
103	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:34
104	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	3:49
105	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
106	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
107	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	s.t.
108	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
109	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	3:56
110	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
111	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	4:18
112	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:38
113	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	5:29
114	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	5:36
115	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	6:17
116	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
117	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
118	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
119	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
120	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
121	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
122	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
123	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
124	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
125	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
126	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	6:20
127	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
128	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	7:01
129	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.

 

GC after stage 4:

• GC leader: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Mountains classification leader: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)
• Points classification leader: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Best young rider: Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Teams classification leader: Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale

483.17 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.310 km/hr

1	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	11hr 9min 22sec
2	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	@ 6sec
3	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	0:12
4	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	0:16
5	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	0:20
6	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
7	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:23
8	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:27
11	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:28
12	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
13	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	0:29
14	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	0:31
15	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
16	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
17	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
18	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	0:34
19	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:39
20	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
21	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:42
22	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
23	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	0:44
24	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
25	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:46
26	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	0:53
27	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
28	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	0:55
29	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	1:00
30	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:04
31	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:05
32	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
33	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
34	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:08
35	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
36	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
37	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	1:12
38	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:14
39	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:17
40	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:28
41	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	1:31
42	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	2:01
43	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:03
44	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	2:07
45	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:10
46	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	2:11
47	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	2:21
48	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:22
49	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:27
50	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	2:29
51	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:31
52	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	2:37
53	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	2:48
54	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	2:53
55	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	3:04
56	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	3:05
57	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	3:14
58	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	3:26
59	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	3:48
60	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:01
61	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:07
62	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	4:11
63	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	4:16
64	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:28
65	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	4:35
66	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	4:36
67	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	4:37
68	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	5:04
69	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	5:28
70	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	5:33
71	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
72	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	6:06
73	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	6:07
74	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	6:08
75	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	6:30
76	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	6:38
77	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	6:54
78	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	7:01
79	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	7:24
80	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	8:25
81	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	8:28
82	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	8:56
83	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	9:01
84	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	10:25
85	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	10:28
86	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	10:29
87	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	10:52
88	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	11:00
89	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	11:11
90	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	11:16
91	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	11:35
92	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	12:14
93	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	12:51
94	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	13:19
95	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	13:30
96	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	13:41
97	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	13:51
98	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	14:28
99	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	14:37
100	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	15:17
101	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	15:23
102	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	15:35
103	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	15:56
104	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	16:04
105	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	16:38
106	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	16:39
107	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	17:03
108	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	17:06
109	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	17:35
110	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	17:42
111	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	17:52
112	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	18:22
113	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	18:34
114	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	18:45
115	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	19:12
116	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	19:13
117	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	19:21
118	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	19:26
119	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	19:35
120	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	19:50
121	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	20:28
122	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	20:39
123	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	20:51
124	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	22:17
125	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	23:33
126	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	23:48
127	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	25:17
128	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	25:42
129	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	26:37

 

Stage 4 map:

Stage 4 map

---

Friday, February 2: Stage 3, Bessèges - Bessèges, 161.11 km

Stage 3 map

The stage is Mads Pedersen's. Getty images

David L. Stanley's masterful telling of his bout with skin cancer Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Bessèges at 1:30 PM, local time: 17C (63F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 21 km/hr (14 mph). There is just a 1% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner & GC leader Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek.

After second place in his season debut yesterday, Mads Pedersen didn’t have to wait long to move up to the top step of the podium. A strong breakaway animated the day, and despite the absence of Daan Hoole who abandoned due to illness, Lidl-Trek’s combined strength was able to control the stage, in partnership with a couple of other teams who were also interested in a sprint finish.

With 5.5km to go Marco Brenner (Tudor) broke clear, but he was neutralized by the combined effort of the sprint teams. One final card was played by Kévin Vaquelin (Arkea), but Toms Skujiņš was on hand to lift the pace and make the catch in time for sprint. The speed was already high due to the chase, which just left Luxembourg champ Alex Kirsch to twist the throttle before Pedersen launched his ferocious sprint. The former world champion crossed the line comfortably in the lead, earning himself 10 bonus seconds in the process and moving into the race lead with two stages remaining.

Mads' reaction:
“It’s a really good day for us and nice to give the guys the victory they deserved yesterday. [Moving into the GC lead] sums up the two good days of racing. We’re happy, and now it’s on for tomorrow so we’ll see how it goes. I’m expecting to get attacked tomorrow, it’s a hard finish and I’m not the strongest climber here so for sure they will try, and they have to, they’re here to win the race also. But now we have what we came for, we came for a stage victory, so we are happy but of course we will try to hang on with these guys tomorrow. The shape is good, so of course I have to try. The GC would be a bonus because we know how hard it will be tomorrow.”

Complete results:

161.11 kilometers raced at an average speed of 43.174 km/hr

1	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	3hr 43min 54sec
2	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
3	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
4	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
5	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
6	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
7	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
8	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
9	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
10	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
11	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
12	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
13	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
14	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
15	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
16	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
17	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
18	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
19	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
20	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
21	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
22	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
23	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
24	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
25	Andrii Ponomar	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
26	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
27	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
28	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
29	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
30	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
31	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
32	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
33	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
34	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
35	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
36	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
37	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
38	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
39	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
40	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
41	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
42	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
44	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
45	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
46	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
47	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
48	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
49	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	s.t.
50	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
51	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
52	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
53	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
54	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
55	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
56	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
57	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
58	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
59	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
60	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
61	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	s.t.
62	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
63	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
64	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
65	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
66	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
67	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
68	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
69	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
70	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
71	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
72	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
73	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	s.t.
74	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	@ 49sec
75	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:06
76	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	1:38
77	Jan Stöckli	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	1:41
78	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	1:46
79	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	2:05
80	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:17
81	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:28
82	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:19
83	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
84	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
85	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	4:24
86	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	6:17
87	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
88	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	s.t.
89	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	s.t.
90	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
91	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
92	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
93	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
94	Valerio Conti	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
95	Marco Murgano	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
96	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	7:13
97	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
98	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
99	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
100	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	9:00
101	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
102	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	9:53
103	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	11:54
104	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
105	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
106	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
107	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	12:14
108	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	12:27
109	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
110	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
111	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
112	Etienne Van Empel	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
113	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
114	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
115	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
116	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
117	Valentin Darbellay	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
118	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
119	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
120	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
121	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	s.t.
122	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
123	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
124	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
125	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
126	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
127	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
128	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
129	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	12:59

 

GC after stage 3:

• GC leader: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Mountains classification leader: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)
• Points classification leader: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
• Best young rider: Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Teams classification leader: Groupama-FDJ

324.69 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 42.279 km/hr

1	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	7hr 40min 48sec
2	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	@ 6sec
3	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	0:12
4	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	0:16
5	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	0:20
6	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
7	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:23
8	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:27
11	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:28
12	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
13	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	0:29
14	Alexandre Delettre	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	0:31
15	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
16	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
17	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
18	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	0:34
19	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:39
20	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
21	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
22	Andrii Ponomar	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:42
23	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
24	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	0:44
25	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
26	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:46
27	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	0:49
28	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	0:50
29	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	0:53
30	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
31	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	0:55
32	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:03
33	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:05
34	Jérémy Cabot	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
35	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
36	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:08
37	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
38	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
39	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
40	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	1:12
41	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
42	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
43	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:16
44	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:17
45	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:28
46	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
47	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:32
48	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
49	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
50	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:42
51	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	1:46
52	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	1:50
53	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	2:03
54	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	2:07
55	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
56	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:10
57	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	2:10
58	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	2:14
59	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
60	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:32
61	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:37
62	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
63	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
64	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	s.t.
65	Dillon Corkery	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:41
66	Jan Stöckli	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	3:06
67	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	3:14
68	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	3:37
69	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	3:40
70	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	3:53
71	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:01
72	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:07
73	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	4:11
74	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
75	Romain Cardis	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
76	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	4:36
77	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	4:43
78	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	4:56
79	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	5:11
80	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	5:52
81	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	6:14
82	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	6:40
83	Valerio Conti	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	6:54
84	Marco Murgano	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	7:01
85	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	7:15
86	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	7:26
87	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	7:42
88	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	8:31
89	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	8:54
90	Théo Delacroix	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	9:01
91	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	10:06
92	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	10:24
93	Iversby Hvideberg Jonas	Uno-X Mobility	10:25
94	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	10:28
95	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	10:48
96	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	10:50
97	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	11:20
98	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	11:35
99	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	11:49
100	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	12:19
101	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	12:51
102	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	13:02
103	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	13:32
104	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	13:34
105	Valentin Darbellay	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	13:39
106	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	13:44
107	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	14:01
108	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	14:05
109	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	14:34
110	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	15:08
111	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
112	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	15:15
113	Jérémy Lecroq	St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	15:24
114	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	15:27
115	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	15:40
116	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	16:02
117	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	16:18
118	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	16:24
119	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	16:34
120	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
121	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	16:38
122	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
123	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	17:33
124	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	18:15
125	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	18:18
126	Etienne Van Empel	Team Corratec-Vini Fantini	18:24
127	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	18:41
128	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	19:27
129	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	20:22

 

Stage 3 map:

Stage 3 map

---

Thursday, February 1: Stage 2, Marguerittes - Rousson, 163.58 km

Stage 2 map

Axel Laurance beats Mads Pedersen to the line. Photo: Photonews

James Witherell's book Bicycle History: A Chronological History of People, Races and Technology is available in both print and Kindle eBook formats. To get your copy just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Rousson at 1:30 PM, local time: 15C (59F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 23 km/hr (14 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Second-place Mads Pedersen's Team Lidl-Trek posted this short report.

Mads Pedersen tasted his first competition of the season today in France at the Etoile de Besseges. He rounded off a faultless team performance with second place after an uphill slog to the line. The Dane looked poised to take victory until Axel Laurance (Alpecin – Deceuninck) launched an impressive sprint with 175 meters to the line. Pedersen fought to the line but was unable to slip ahead, conceding to the Frenchman in the early-season duel.

Speaking after the finish, Mads Pedersen said: “I’m pretty happy with today, of course it would have been nice to start with a win, But we can take lots of positives from today – the boys rode perfectly as a team, and a podium in the debut is not too bad. We are Looking ahead to tomorrow for another chance, we keep fighting to get a win here in besseges. But it’s definitely good to be back with numbers on!”

Complete results:

163.58 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.384 km/hr

1	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3hr 57min 10sec
2	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
3	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
4	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
5	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	@ 4sec
6	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
7	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:07
8	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:11
11	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:12
12	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
13	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	0:13
14	Alexandre Delettre	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	0:15
15	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
16	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
17	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
18	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	0:18
19	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:21
20	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:23
21	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
22	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
23	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:26
24	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
25	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:28
26	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
27	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
28	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:30
29	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	0:34
30	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	0:37
31	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
32	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	0:39
33	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
34	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	0:42
35	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	0:47
36	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:49
37	Jérémy Cabot	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
38	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
39	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
40	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	0:52
41	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
42	Joris Delbove	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
44	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
45	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	0:56
46	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
47	Alessandro Monaco	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
48	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
49	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
50	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
51	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:00
52	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	1:01
53	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
54	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	1:09
55	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
56	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:10
57	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:12
58	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
59	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:16
60	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
61	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
62	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:22
63	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	1:24
64	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	1:26
65	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
66	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
67	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	1:30
68	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	1:34
69	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:36
70	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	1:47
71	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	1:51
72	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
73	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
74	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	s.t.
75	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
76	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:54
77	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
78	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	1:58
79	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
80	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
81	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:10
82	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	2:21
83	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	2:21
84	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
85	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	s.t.
86	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
87	Dillon Corkery	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:25
88	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
89	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
90	Théo Delacroix	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:28
91	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	2:32
92	Jérémy Lecroq	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:41
93	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	2:44
94	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	2:56
95	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	3:02
96	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
97	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
98	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	3:19
99	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
100	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	3:21
101	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	3:31
102	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	3:33
103	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	3:35
104	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	3:41
105	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:51
106	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
107	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
108	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
109	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
110	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
111	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:55
112	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
113	Romain Cardis	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
114	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
115	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
116	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
117	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	4:20
118	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
119	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	4:50
120	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
121	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	5:41
122	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	5:48
123	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	5:58
124	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
125	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	6:05
126	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	6:18
127	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	6:24
128	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
129	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	6:44
130	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	7:07
131	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	7:15

 

GC after stage 2:

• GC leader: Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Mountains classification leader: Jean-Louis Le Ny (Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur)
• Points classification leader: Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Best young rider: Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Teams classification leader: Team Groupama-FDJ

1	Axel Laurance	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3hr 57min 0sec
2	Mads Pedersen	Lidl-Trek	@ 4sec
3	Kévin Vauquelin	Arkea-B&B Hotels	0:06
4	Kevin Geniets	Groupama-FDJ	0:10
5	Rémy Rochas	Groupama-FDJ	0:14
6	Brent Van Moer	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
7	Benoît Cosnefroy	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:17
8	Alex Baudin	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
9	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
10	Jenno Berckmoes	Lotto Dstny	0:21
11	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:22
12	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
13	Markus Hoelgaard	Uno-X Mobility	0:23
14	Alexandre Delettre	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	0:25
15	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
16	Ben Healy	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
17	Anthony Perez	Cofidis	s.t.
18	Toms Skujins	Lidl-Trek	0:28
19	Valerio Conti	Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:31
20	Valentin Retailleau	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:33
21	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
22	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
23	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:36
24	Andrii Ponomar	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
25	Marco Murgano	Corratec-Vini Fantini	0:38
26	Clément Braz Afonso	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
27	Alec Segaert	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
28	Nils Brun	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	0:40
29	Alexis Vuillermoz	TotalEnergies	0:44
30	Magnus Cort	Uno-X Mobility	0:47
31	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
32	Kenneth Van Rooy	Bingoal-WB	0:49
33	Milan Menten	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
34	Lionel Taminiaux	Lotto Dstny	0:52
35	Maxime Jarnet	Van Rysel-Roubaix	0:57
36	Damien Touzé	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:59
37	Jérémy Cabot	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
38	Thibaud Gruel	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
39	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
40	Rémi Capron	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:02
41	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
42	Joris Delbove	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Andreas Leknessund	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
44	Léo Danès	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
45	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	1:06
46	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	s.t.
47	Alessandro Monaco	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
48	Giacomo Villa	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
49	Valentin Darbellay	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
50	Alex Colman	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
51	Samuel Leroux	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:10
52	Melvin Crommelinck	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	1:11
53	Florian Stork	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
54	Jonas Iversby Hvideberg	Uno-X Mobility	1:19
55	Jan Stöckli	Corratec-Vini Fantini	s.t.
56	Ward Vanhoof	Team Flanders-Baloise	1:20
57	Arthur Kluckers	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	1:22
58	Emmanuel Morin	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
59	Pierre-Henry Basset	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:26
60	Luca Van Boven	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
61	Louka Matthys	Bingoal-WB	s.t.
62	Enzo Boulet	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	1:32
63	Luca De Meester	Bingoal-WB	1:34
64	Daan Hoole	Lidl-Trek	1:36
65	Kamiel Bonneu	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
66	Sander De Pestel	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
67	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-WB	1:40
68	Alexis Gougeard	Cofidis	1:44
69	Valentin Tabellion	Van Rysel-Roubaix	1:46
70	Alex Kirsch	Lidl-Trek	1:57
71	Eddy Le Huitouze	Groupama-FDJ	2:01
72	Cyril Barthe	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
73	Thibault Guernalec	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
74	Christophe Noppe	Cofidis	s.t.
75	Sandy Dujardin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
76	Vincent Van Hemelen	Team Flanders-Baloise	2:04
77	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
78	Mathis Le Berre	Arkea-B&B Hotels	2:08
79	Simon Guglielmi	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
80	Sean Quinn	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
81	Kenny Molly	Van Rysel-Roubaix	2:20
82	Thomas Bonnet	TotalEnergies	2:31
83	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
84	Sébastien Grignard	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
85	Thomas Gachignard	TotalEnergies	s.t.
86	Dries De Bondt	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
87	Dillon Corkery	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:35
88	Jon Rye-Johnsen	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	s.t.
89	Alexander Kristoff	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
90	Théo Delacroix	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:38
91	Marc Sarreau	Groupama-FDJ	2:42
92	Jérémy Lecroq	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	2:51
93	Luca Mozzato	Arkea-B&B Hotels	2:54
94	Marco Brenner	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	3:06
95	Simon Carr	EF Education-EasyPost	3:12
96	Jonas Abrahamsen	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
97	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Mobility	s.t.
98	Tim Declercq	Lidl-Trek	3:29
99	Arno Claeys	Team Flanders-Baloise	s.t.
100	Jelle Vermoote	Bingoal-WB	3:31
101	Julien Bernard	Lidl-Trek	3:41
102	Pierre Thierry	Arkea-B&B Hotels	3:43
103	Alexander Konijn	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	3:45
104	Jean-Louis Le Ny	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	3:51
105	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:01
106	Jarrad Drizners	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
107	Timo Kielich	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
108	Ramses Debruyne	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
109	Simon Dehairs	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
110	Alan Riou	Arkea-B&B Hotels	s.t.
111	Mikel Retegi	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:05
112	Harrison Wood	Cofidis	s.t.
113	Romain Cardis	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93	s.t.
114	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
115	Mika Heming	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
116	Lukas Nerurkar	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
117	Matisse Julien	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	4:30
118	Maximilien Juillard	Van Rysel-Roubaix	s.t.
119	Jules Hesters	Team Flanders-Baloise	5:00
120	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
121	Etienne Van Empel	Corratec-Vini Fantini	5:51
122	Robbe Ghys	Alpecin-Deceuninck	5:58
123	Stefan Bissegger	EF Education-EasyPost	6:08
124	Danny Van Der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
125	Damien Girard	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	6:15
126	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	6:28
127	Jacob Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	6:34
128	Lucas Eriksson	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
129	Gilles De Wilde	Team Flanders-Baloise	6:54
130	Paul Hennequin	Nice Métropole-Côte d’Azur	7:17
131	Maël Guégan	CIC U Nantes Atlantique	7:25

 

Stage 2 map:

Stage 2 map

---

Wednesday, January 31: Stage 1, Bellegarde - Bellegarde, 160.6 km Stage cancelled.

Stage 1 map

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available in both Kindle eBook & audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

The race: Because of farmers' protests, the first stage is canceled. For a week farmers across France have been blocking roads to protest their economic conditions and the route of the Bessèges fell victim.

Stage two is still scheduled to be run on Thursday. While the farmers' protests are expected to continue, they are not expected to interfere with the running of stage two.

Here's the organizer's letter explaining the cancellation.

Results: None, race canceled

Stage 1 map:

Stage 1 map. The city of Nîmes is the grey area northwest of Bellgarde.

Start list with back numbers, January 30, 2024:

	EF Education-EasyPost
1	Alberto Bettiol
2	Stefan Bissegger
3	Simon Carr
4	Ben Healy
5	Lukas Nerurkar
6	Sean Quinn
7	Darren Rafferty
	Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale
11	Benoît Cosnefroy
12	Alex Baudin
13	Dries De Bondt
14	Sander De Pestel
15	Aurélien Paret-Peintre
16	Valentin Retailleau
17	Damien Touzé
	Lidl-Trek
21	Mads Pedersen
22	Julien Bernard
23	Tim Declercq
24	Daan Hoole
25	Alex Kirsch
26	Toms Skujins
27	Otto Vergaerde
	Cofidis
31	Benjamin Thomas
32	Anthony Perez
33	Thomas Champion
34	Alexis Gougeard
35	Gorka Izagirre
36	Christophe Noppe
37	Harrison Wood
	Alpecin-Deceuninck
41	Axel Laurance
42	Ramses Debruyne
43	Simon Dehairs
44	Robbe Ghys
45	Timo Kielich
46	Edward Planckaert
47	Luca Vergallito
	Groupama-FDJ
51	Kevin Geniets
52	Cyril Barthe
53	Eddy Le Huitouze
54	Quentin Pacher
55	Rémy Rochas
56	Marc Sarreau
57	Thibaud Gruel
	Lotto Dstny
61	Jenno Berckmoes
62	Jarrad Drizners
63	Sébastien Grignard
64	Milan Menten
65	Alec Segaert
66	Lionel Taminiaux
67	Brent Van Moer
	Arkea-B&B Hotels
71	Kévin Vauquelin
72	Luca Mozzato
73	Mathis Le Berre
74	Thibault Guernalec
75	Simon Guglielmi
76	Alan Riou
77	Pierre Thierry
	Uno-X Mobility
81	Magnus Cort Nielsen
82	Jonas Abrahamsen
83	Markus Hoelgaard
84	Iversby Hvideberg Jonas
85	Andreas Leknessund
86	Alexander Kristoff
87	Rasmus Tiller
	TotalEnergies
91	Mathieu Burgaudeau
92	Thomas Bonnet
93	Sandy Dujardin
94	Valentin Ferron
95	Thomas Gachignard
96	Fabien Grellier
97	Alexis Vuillermoz
	Tudor Pro Cycling Team
101	Marco Brenner
102	Aloïs Charrin
103	Mika Heming
104	Arthur Kluckers
105	Michael Storer
106	Florian Stork
107	Joel Suter
	Team Flanders-Baloise
111	Arno Claeys
112	Alex Colman
113	Gilles De Wilde
114	Jules Hesters
115	Vincent Van Hemelen
116	Aaron Van Poucke
117	Ward Vanhoof
	Team Corratec
121	Valerio Conti
122	Valentin Darbellay
123	Marco Murgano
124	Jan Stöckli
125	Etienne Van Empel
126	Alessandro Monaco
127	Andrii Ponomar
	Bingoal-WB
131	Cériel Desal
132	Luca De Meester
133	Luca Van Boven
134	Jelle Vermoote
135	Kenneth Van Rooy
136	Giacomo Villa
137	Louka Matthys
	Equipo Kern Pharma
141	Pau Miquel Delgado
142	Urko Berrade
143	Danny Van Der Tuuk
144	Martí Márquez
145	Francisco Galván
146	Mikel Retegi
147	Hugo Aznar
	Saint Michel-Mavic-Auber 93
151	Alexandre Delettre
152	Jérémy Cabot
153	Romain Cardis
154	Dillon Corkery
155	Joris Delbove
156	Jérémy Lecroq
157	Morne Van Niekerk
	Van Rysel-Roubaix
161	Kenny Molly
162	Rémi Capron
163	Maxime Jarnet
164	Maximilien Juillard
165	Samuel Leroux
166	Emmanuel Morin
167	Valentin Tabellion
	Cic U Nantes Atlantique
171	Pierre-Henry Basset
172	Enzo Boulet
173	Clément Braz Afonso
174	Léo Danès
175	Maël Guégan
176	Yaël Joalland
177	Jon Rye-Johnsen
	Nice Métropole-Côte D'Azur
181	Jonathan Couanon
182	Damien Girard
183	Paul Hennequin
184	Jean-Louis Le Ny
185	Andrea Mifsud
186	Axel Narbonne-Zuccarelli
187	Melvin Crommelinck