Sunday, February 13: 3rd & Final Stage, Monosque - Montagne de Lure, 166.1 km

Stage 3 photos

Nairo Quintana wins stage 3 and the 2022 Tour of Provence. Sirotti photo

Les Woodland's book Paris-Roubaix: The Inside Story - All the bumps of cycling's cobbled classic is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at Saint-Étienne-les-Orgues, on the route, 15 km from the finish, at 1:50 PM, local time: 9C (48F), sunny, with the wind from the southeast at 14 km/hr (9 mph). There is no rain, but it is coming. It should hold off until the end of the race.

The race: Here's the report from final GC 2nd-place and points classification winner Julian Alaphilippe's Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl team:

Julian Alaphilippe produced another cracking effort, this time on the first big summit of the season, and concluded the Tour de la Provence in second overall – a strong start to the season for the World Champion, who never finished lower than seventh in the four days of the event.

Montagne de Lure (14.6km, 6.4%), a steady climb with double-digit gradients towards the top that had previously featured in Paris-Nice, awaited the peloton on the final stage of the competition, and the Wolfpack was again up for the challenge when things became serious. Dries Devenyns shepherded Alaphilippe in the first kilometers of the ascent, before Louis Vervaeke took over the reins at the front and pushed a tempo that further thinned out an already depleted bunch.

When Nairo Quintana launched an attack with 4.4 kilometers to go, Julian was the only one able to follow him. The points jersey wearer even did some pulls that ensured the duo a solid lead over the chasers, but eventually was distanced when the gradient stiffened, three kilometers from the top. Joined by a small group that contained Ilan Van Wilder, Alaphilippe tried as much as possible to reduce the gap to the leader, even though he knew that his chances of winning the overall title were slipping away.

Eventually, he rolled over the line in seventh place, and thanks to an enormous effort and the help of Ilan, he retained his place on the podium and concluded runner-up at the Tour de la Provence for the second consecutive year. In addition to that, the 29-year-old claimed the points jersey, which last year was won by another member of the Wolfpack, Davide Ballerini.

“I think I made a small mistake when I tried to follow Quintana. In hindsight, maybe it would have been better to ride my own tempo and wait some more time before making a move, because in the last kilometers I exploded. Nevertheless, I am still happy, because I tested myself and had fun. I am satisfied with this week and with my first race of the season. Now I will take some time to recover before lining up for Ardèche and Drôme two weeks from now, where I hope to have some good outings as well”, explained Julian after his first race of the year.

Alaphilippe was joined in the top 10 overall by Ilan Van Wilder (6th) and Louis Vervaeke (10th), who both impressed in their first race with the squad, helping Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl win the best team classification at La Provence.

“The team did a great job today. Dries, Pieter and Louis protected us the entire stage, which allowed us to start the final climb as fresh as possible. Quintana was the strongest out there, so there was nothing to be done, but I did my best and in the last kilometer I raced full gas to reduce the gap. We did everything we could do and we can be content with our effort. I am happy with the week and with how things went in my first race with the Wolfpack”, said Ilan.

Complete results:

Photos

166.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.879 km/hr

1	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	4hr 23min 6sec
2	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	@ 37sec
3	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
4	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	0:39
5	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:41
6	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	0:46
7	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:47
8	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:49
9	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	0:59
10	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	1:03
11	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	1:19
12	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	1:27
13	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	1:29
14	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	1:33
15	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	s.t.
16	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:35
17	Florian Stork	Team DSM	1:37
18	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	1:51
19	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	2:04
20	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	2:35
21	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	s.t.
22	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
23	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	2:44
24	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	2:49
25	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
26	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	2:55
27	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	3:19
28	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
29	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	4:00
30	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	4:03
31	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	4:14
32	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
33	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	4:34
34	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	4:45
35	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	4:46
36	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	5:02
37	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
38	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	5:29
39	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	5:50
40	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
41	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
42	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
43	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	s.t.
44	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
45	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
46	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	5:58
47	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	6:00
48	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	6:02
49	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	6:08
50	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	6:16
51	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	6:22
52	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	6:43
53	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	s.t.
54	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	7:08
55	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
56	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	7:31
57	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	7:32
58	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	7:58
59	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	8:52
60	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
61	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	9:26
62	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	9:34
63	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
64	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
65	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	9:53
66	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
67	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:11
68	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	10:15
69	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	10:55
70	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
71	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	11:34
72	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	12:05
73	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	12:59
74	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	15:18
75	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	15:33
76	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	16:41
77	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
78	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
79	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
80	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
81	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
82	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
83	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
84	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
85	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	16:45
86	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	19:04
87	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
88	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	20:09
89	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	22:40
90	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
91	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.

 

Final GC after stage 3:

• Final GC leader: Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic)
• Points classification winner: Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl)
• Mountains classification winner: Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic)
• Best young rider: Mattias Skelmose Jensen (Trek-Segafredo)
• Team classification winner: Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl

505.7 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.611 km/hr

1	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	12hr 9min 11sec
2	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	@ 27sec
3	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	0:34
4	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	0:36
5	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:41
6	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:46
7	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	1:21
8	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	1:45
9	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	1:56
10	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	2:56
11	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	2:57
12	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	3:54
13	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	4:03
14	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	6:58
15	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	10:51
16	Florian Stork	Team DSM	11:24
17	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	11:44
18	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	11:52
19	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12:26
20	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	12:30
21	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	12:46
22	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	12:50
23	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	12:57
24	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	13:19
25	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	13:37
26	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	13:38
27	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	13:45
28	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	13:58
29	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	14:18
30	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	14:30
31	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	14:40
32	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	14:48
33	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	15:04
34	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	15:23
35	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	16:09
36	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	16:11
37	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	16:47
38	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
39	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	16:47
40	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	17:34
41	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	17:42
42	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	18:18
43	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	18:26
44	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	19:04
45	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	19:26
46	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	19:28
47	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	19:38
48	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
49	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	20:56
50	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	20:57
51	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	21:02
52	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	21:09
53	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	21:30
54	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	21:38
55	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	22:06
56	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	22:19
57	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	22:30
58	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	22:41
59	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	23:16
60	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	23:22
61	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	23:26
62	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	24:09
63	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	24:20
64	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	24:32
65	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	24:35
66	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	24:37
67	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	24:40
68	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	25:44
69	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	26:19
70	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	26:20
71	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	26:37
72	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	26:39
73	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	26:57
74	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	27:40
75	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	27:46
76	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	28:29
77	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	28:42
78	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	28:53
79	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	29:49:
80	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	30:20
81	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	30:54
82	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	31:18
83	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	31:57
84	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	32:08
85	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	34:18
86	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	35:17
87	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	37:31
88	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	40:07
89	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	40:27
90	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	41:35
91	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	43:22

 

Stage 3 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

The day's break gives it a shot.

The peloton descends a narrow mountain road.

It's clearly still winter.

The stage is Nairo Quintana's

Mattias Jensen finishes second with Matteo Jorgensen right behind him.

Filippo Ganna in his last moments in the GC leader's jersey.

Nairo Quintana, both the stage 3 and final GC winner.

The GC podium, from left: Mattias Jensen (3rd), Nairo Quintana (1st) & Julian Alaphilippe (2nd)

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Saturday, February 12: Stage 2, Arles - Manosque, 183 km

Stage 2 photos

Bryan Coquard wins stage two just ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Filippo Ganna

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2021: The Little Cannibal Dominates is available as an audiobook here. For the Kindle eBook version, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Manosque at 2:30 PM, local time: 14C (58F), sunny, with the wind from the south at 16 km/hr (10 km/hr). No rain

The race: Here's the report from second-place Julian Alaphilippe's Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl team:

Julian Alaphilippe began his day by being named a Reserve Colonel in the French Army in a special ceremony organised for him in Arles and concluded it by inching closer to the Tour de la Provence lead, on the back of a spectacular collective effort of his Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl teammates.

Not only that the Wolfpack was among the most active squads during Saturday’s 180.6km stage, clawing back the breakaway and working tirelessly for the World Champion, they also constantly upped the pace on the climbs and whittled down the peloton with 30 kilometers remaining, putting many riders on the limit. One by one, the escapees were reeled in, the last of these being hauled back six kilometers from the line thanks to a mammoth effort of Louis Vervaeke.

A big turn of pace from Ilan Van Wilder at four kilometers to go stretched the field and almost caused a split, and the frantic pace continued on the 2km drag to the line, thanks to Dries Devenyns, who shut down a late attack before guiding Alaphilippe to the front just as the battle for victory kicked off. The rainbow jersey hit out with 200 meters to go and took second behind Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) – his first podium of the season – nabbing more bonifications that helped him reduce the gap to the overall leader of the Tour de la Provence to a mere two seconds.

“I did the best I could in the sprint, which was fast and nervous. Before that, on the last classified climb, I had already put in a brutal effort, so after that I was just happy to be well placed in the last kilometers, which I did thanks to the great work of my teammates. I am satisfied with this result, as I knew Bryan was faster, and I’m already looking forward to Sunday’s stage. The legs will do the talking on the climb, and I just want to give my maximum there, have fun, bring some more joy to the fans and see what happens”, said Julian – who continues to lead the points classification – before the race’s sole mountain top finish.

Complete results:

Photos

183 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.280 km/hr

1	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	4hr 19min 42sec
2	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
3	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
4	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
5	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
6	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
7	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
8	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
9	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
10	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
11	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
12	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
13	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
14	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
15	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
16	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
17	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
18	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	@ 6sec
19	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	s.t.
20	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
21	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
22	Florian Stork	Team DSM	s.t.
23	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
24	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
25	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
26	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
27	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
28	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
29	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
30	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
31	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	0:17
32	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	0:18
33	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
34	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	0:21
35	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	0:24
36	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	0:27
37	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	0:32
38	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:34
39	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	0:41
40	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	0:46
41	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	0:57
42	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	1:25
43	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	1:34
44	Nicolas Prodhomme	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
45	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	1:36
46	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	1:36
47	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:38
48	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	2:15
49	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	3:34
50	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	3:54
51	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	5:33
52	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
53	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	5:35
54	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
55	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
56	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	s.t.
57	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
58	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
59	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
60	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
61	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
62	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
63	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
64	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
65	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
66	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
67	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
68	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
69	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
70	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
71	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
72	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
73	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	s.t.
74	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
75	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
76	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	s.t.
77	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
78	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
79	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
80	Axel Zingle	Cofidis	s.t.
81	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
82	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
83	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
84	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
85	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
86	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
87	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
88	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	s.t.
89	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	8:42
90	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
91	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
92	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
93	Pierre Rolland	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
94	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
95	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	9:37
96	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	11:30
97	Michael Schwarzmann	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
98	Jakob Egholm	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
99	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
100	Jason Tesson	St Michel-Auber 93	11:39
101	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	14:11
102	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.

 

GC after stage two:

342.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 44.074 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	7hr 45min 43sec
2	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	@ 2sec
3	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:14
4	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	0:16
5	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	0:25
6	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
7	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	0:27
8	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
9	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	0:30
10	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	0:32
11	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	0:38
12	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:43
13	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	0:58
14	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	1:06
15	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	1:21
16	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	1:23
17	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	3:06
18	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	6:11
19	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
20	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	6:14
21	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	6:19
22	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	6:50
23	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	6:59
24	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	9:01
25	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	10:00
26	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	10:01
27	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
28	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
29	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	10:07
30	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	10:08
31	Florian Stork	Team DSM	10:09
32	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	10:16
33	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	10:18
34	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	10:24
35	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
36	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	10:27
37	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	10:28
38	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	10:31
39	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	10:35
40	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	10:37
41	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	10:38
42	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	10:41
43	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	10:58
44	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	11:34
45	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	11:55
46	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	11:59
47	Nicolas Prodhomme	Ag2r-Citroën	12:01
48	Pierre Rolland	B&B Hotels-KTM	12:05
49	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	12:06
50	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	12:20
51	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	12:24
52	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	12:27
53	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12:40
54	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	12:47
55	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	13:02
56	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	13:36
57	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	13:37
58	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	13:57
59	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	15:23
60	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	15:28
61	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	15:29
62	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	15:34
63	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
64	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	15:36
65	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
66	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	15:38
67	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
68	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	15:43
69	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	15:49
70	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	15:50
71	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
72	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	s.t.
73	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	15:51
74	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	15:55
75	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	15:57
76	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	15:58
77	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	16:03
78	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	16:05
79	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	16:12
80	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	17:13
81	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	17:28
82	Axel Zingle	Cofidis	17:33
83	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	17:44
84	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	17:45
85	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	17:49
86	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	17:54
87	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	17:56
88	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	18:09
89	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
90	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	18:29
91	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	18:58
92	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	19:03
93	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	19:08
94	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	21:12
95	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	21:48
96	Jakob Egholm	Trek-Segafredo	21:54
97	Michael Schwarzmann	Lotto Soudal	22:04
98	Jason Tesson	St Michel-Auber 93	22:25
99	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	23:28
100	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	24:02
101	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	24:40
102	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	26:38

 

Stage two photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Arnaud Demare heads to the start.

GC leader Filippo Ganna on the start line.

The peloton is lined up in the start city of Arles and looks ready to race.

It's a warm enough day that Ganna has pushed his arm warmers down.

Alexis Gougeard of B&B Hotels leads a small break.

Bryan Coquard nails it ahead of Julian Alaphilippe and Filippo Ganna.

The stage is Bryan Coquard's

Julian Alaphilippe just after the stage.

Stage winner Bryan Coquard on the podium

---

Friday, February 11: Stage 1, Istres - Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, 152 km

Photos

Elia Viviani wins stage two. Photo: Getty Sport Images

Bill and Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, 2019: A Year of New Faces is available as an audiobook here. For the Kindle eBook version, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the finish city of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer at 2:00 PM, local time: 14C (58F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 37 km/hr (23 mph). No rain.

The race: Here's the report from stage winner Elia Viviani's INEOS Grenadiers team:

Elia Viviani continued the team’s momentum after taking sprint victory on a thrilling second day at Tour de la Provence.

The Italian finished off a superb team performance by raising his arms, taking his first victory of a second stint with the team.

The Grenadiers worked hard to split the race apart in the crosswinds with 85 kilometres still to race. The team’s acceleration saw a huge split in the bunch, with Viviani, Filippo Ganna, Luke Rowe and Richard Carapaz in the lead group.

With no other established sprinters present Viviani was in the box seat, and Carapaz buried himself late on to keep the race together, before Ganna helped shut down a key move from Maciej Bodnar.

Luke Rowe then timed his lead-out to perfection, dropping Viviani out of the final corner to take an emphatic victory.

Ganna also remained in the overall lead by four seconds following his prologue victory on Thursday.

Elia Viviani:
"It was not an easy flat stage because of the wind. We moved really well and we have some experienced guys from the Classics like Luke Rowe. When we saw we had four in front, and also Richie with us for the GC, we thought it’s good and we kept pushing all day. When we saw there weren’t any other sprinters in the front (group) of course we were happy about that. I felt a bit of pressure but the guys did an amazing job. Ganna closed the gap on Bodnar which was a dangerous attack in the last few km. Then Luke Rowe did a perfect lead-out for me. Thanks to the whole team for their great job today.

"We had some tactics for today. The first was attack in the wind, and then once we’d seen the finish line the guys wanted to know from me what I wanted for the proper lead-out. It’s what we talked about in the last 10km, how to approach the final few metres.

"I finished the season really well last year and that’s important. For sure I’m really happy to be back with team INEOS Grenadiers. It’s really important for a sprinter winning at the start of the season. From Valenciana we knew I had a good condition and then coming here to Provence with a big goal to win the first race of the season."

Complete results:

Stage one photos

152 kilometers raced at an average speed of 46.068 km/hr

1	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	3hr 17min 58sec
2	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
3	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
4	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	s.t.
5	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
6	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
7	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
8	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
9	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
10	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
11	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
12	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
13	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
14	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
15	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
16	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
17	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	@ 3sec
18	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
19	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
20	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	0:07
21	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	0:16
22	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	0:30
23	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	0:34
24	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	2:28
25	Pierre Rolland	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
26	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
27	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
28	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	9:34
29	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
30	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
31	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
32	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
33	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
34	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
35	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	s.t.
36	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
37	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
38	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
39	Florian Stork	Team DSM	s.t.
40	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
41	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
42	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
44	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
45	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	s.t.
46	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
47	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
48	Jakob Egholm	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
49	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	s.t.
50	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
51	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
52	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
53	Jason Tesson	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
54	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
55	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
56	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	s.t.
57	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	s.t.
58	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	s.t.
59	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	s.t.
60	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
61	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
62	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
63	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
64	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
65	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	s.t.
66	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	s.t.
67	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	s.t.
68	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
69	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
70	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
71	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
72	Michael Schwarzmann	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
73	Nicolas Prodhomme	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
74	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
75	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	s.t.
76	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
77	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
78	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
79	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	s.t.
80	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	11:25
81	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
82	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
83	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
84	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
85	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
86	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
87	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
88	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
89	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
90	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
91	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
92	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
93	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
94	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	s.t.
95	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
96	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
97	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
98	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
99	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	s.t.
100	Axel Zingle	Cofidis	s.t.
101	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
102	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
103	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.

 

GC after stage 1:

159.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 46.321 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	3hr 26min 5sec
2	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	@ 4sec
3	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:10
4	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	0:12
5	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:17
6	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	0:21
7	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
8	Louis Vervaeke	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
9	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	0:22
10	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	0:23
11	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	0:26
12	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	0:28
13	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	0:32
14	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
15	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	0:34
16	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	0:35
17	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	0:40
18	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	0:48
19	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	0:51
20	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	0:56
21	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	1:11
22	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	1:17
23	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	1:20
24	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	2:56
25	Pierre Rolland	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:19
26	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	3:22
27	Jean Goubert	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	3:54
28	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	9:44
29	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	9:50
30	Dries Devenyns	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
31	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	9:51
32	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	9:53
33	Pieter Serry	Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl	9:55
34	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
35	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	9:56
36	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
37	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	9:57
38	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
39	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
40	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
41	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
42	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
43	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	9:58
44	Florian Stork	Team DSM	9:59
45	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
46	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
47	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	10:00
48	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	10:02
49	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	10:06
50	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	10:07
51	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
52	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	10:08
53	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:10
54	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	10:11
55	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	s.t.
56	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	10:12
57	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
58	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	10:13
59	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	s.t.
60	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	s.t.
61	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	10:14
62	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	s.t.
63	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	10:15
64	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:17
65	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	10:19
66	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	10:20
67	Jakob Egholm	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
68	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:22
69	Nicolas Prodhomme	Ag2r-Citroën	10:23
70	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	10:24
71	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:25
72	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	10:26
73	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	10:27
74	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	10:28
75	Michael Schwarzmann	Lotto Soudal	10:30
76	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	10:31
77	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	10:33
78	Jason Tesson	St Michel-Auber 93	10:42
79	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	10:44
80	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	11:34
81	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	11:49
82	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
83	Axel Zingle	Cofidis	11:54
84	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
85	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	11:56
86	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	11:57
87	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	11:59
88	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
89	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	12:05
90	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	12:06
91	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	12:07
92	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	12:10
93	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
94	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	12:15
95	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12:17
96	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	12:23
97	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	12:26
98	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	12:26
99	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	12:28
100	Kévin Besson	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	s.t.
101	Maxime Urruty	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12:30
102	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
103	Antoine Berlin	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12:50

 

Stage one photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

As part of the race start ceremonies the Go Sport - Roubaix Lille Metropole team is presented.

Arnaud Demare signs autographs before the race.

A break rolls across the French countryside.

It's clearly a winter day with the trees without leaves.

World champion Julian Alaphilippe

The race has reached the finish town of Les Saintes Maries de la Mer. Julian Alaphilippe tries his luck with an attack.

Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier

Stage winner Elia Viviani finishes well ahead of the rest of the front group.

Pierre Roger Latour just after the stage finish.

Stage winner Elia Viviani

GC leader Filippo Ganna

---

Thursday, February 10: Berre l'Etang 7.1 kilometer prologue individual time trial

Photos

Here's Filippo Ganna in the world champion's rainbow jersey on his way to winning the stage. Sirotti photo

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 1: 1903 - 1975 is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at Berre l'Etang at 2:15 PM, local time: 14C (58F), fair, with the wind from the west at 10 km/hr (6 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from winner Filippo Ganna's INEOS Grenadiers team.

Flippo Ganna got the Tour de la Provence off to a perfect start, leading home a Grenadiers 1-2 in the prologue.

The Italian world champion rocketed across the 7.1-kilometre course in Berre-l’Etang, claiming victory by 12 seconds to move into an early race lead. Ganna led home teammate Ethan Hayter, with the British TT champion also setting a superb time on the opening day.

Hayter was able to dislodge long-time leader Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama-FDJ) by just four tenths, but in the end there was no denying Ganna, who claimed a second TT victory in five days.

Filippo Ganna:
"To come back to Provence and win again is really really nice. My first victory for a WorldTour team I did here so it’s nice to come back. It’s nice to see another win after three or four days and it’s a good start to the season. Now we look to the next stages to improve and work well with the team and we cross our fingers.

"Tomorrow is a really hard stage as there is a lot of wind. Maybe it’s possible to split the bunch in the wind. We’ll see but we have to be ready."

Complete results & GC:

Photos

7.1 kilometers raced at an average speed of 52.810 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	8min 4sec
2	Ethan Hayter	INEOS Grenadiers	@ 12sec
3	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	0:13
4	Samuele Battistella	Astana Qazaqstan	0:15
5	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
6	Julian Alaphilippe	Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:17
7	Maciej Bodnar	TotalEnergies	s.t.
8	Mathias Norsgaard	Movistar	0:19
9	Dries Devenyns	Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
10	Ilan Van Wilder	Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:20
11	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
12	Patrick Bevin	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
13	Louis Vervaeke	Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl	0:22
14	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
15	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Trek-Segafredo	0:24
16	Matteo Jorgenson	Movistar	s.t.
17	Pieter Serry	Quick-Step-Alpha Vinyl	s.t.
18	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
19	Valentin Ferron	TotalEnergies	0:25
20	Arnaud Démare	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
21	Lewis Askey	Groupama-FDJ	0:26
22	Michele Gazzoli	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
23	Philippe Gilbert	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
24	Dario Cataldo	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
25	Alexander Kamp	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
26	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
27	Maxime Bouet	Arkéa-Samsic	0:27
28	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
29	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
30	Andrea Vendrame	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
31	Florian Stork	Team DSM	0:28
32	Anthony Roux	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
33	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
34	Paul Ourselin	TotalEnergies	0:29
35	Damien Touzé	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
36	Gorka Izagirre	Movistar	0:30
37	Nairo Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	0:31
38	Sep Vanmarcke	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
39	Stéphane Rossetto	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
40	Amanuel Gebreigzabhier	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
41	Axel Zingle	Cofidis	0:32
42	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
43	Simone Velasco	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
44	Mark Donovan	Team DSM	0:35
45	Michael Storer	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
46	Cédric Beullens	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
47	Rudy Barbier	Israel-Premier Tech	0:36
48	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
49	Óscar Rodríguez	Movistar	37
50	Geoffrey Bouchard	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
51	Nicolas Edet	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
52	Martijn Tusveld	Team DSM	0:38
53	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
54	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	0:39
55	Aurélien Paret-Peintre	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
56	Tom Van Asbroeck	Israel-Premier Tech	0:40
57	Victor Lafay	Cofidis	s.t.
58	Lorrenzo Manzin	TotalEnergies	0:41
59	Salvatore Puccio	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
60	Ruben Fernandez	Cofidis	0:42
61	Pierre-Luc Périchon	Cofidis	s.t.
62	Romain Combaud	Team DSM	s.t.
63	Omer Goldstein	Israel-Premier Tech	0:43
64	Antonio Pedrero	Movistar	s.t.
65	Carl Fredrik Hagen	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
66	Luke Rowe	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
67	Fabien Grellier	TotalEnergies	0:44
68	Artyom Zakharov	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
69	Tim Naberman	Team DSM	0:45
70	Elia Viviani	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
71	Jérémy Leveau	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	0:46
72	José Joaquin Rojas	Movistar	0:48
73	Leonardo Basso	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
74	Kenny Elissonde	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
75	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	0:49
76	Jakob Egholm	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
77	Valentin Tabellion	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	0:51
78	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-Samsic	0:52
79	Nicolas Prodhomme	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
80	Miguel Florez	Arkéa-Samsic	0:53
81	Viktor Verschaeve	Lotto Soudal	s.t.
82	Maxime Chevalier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
83	Pierre Rolland	B&B Hotels-KTM	0:54
84	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
85	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	0:55
86	Jonathan Couanon	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	s.t.
87	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	0:56
88	Joris Delbove	St Michel-Auber 93	0:57
89	Tom Mainguenaud	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
90	Michael Schwarzmann	Lotto Soudal	0:59
91	Andrea Mifsud	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	1:00
92	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	1:01
93	Kamil Malecki	Lotto Soudal	1:02
94	Ivan Sosa	Movistar	1:04
95	Emiel Vermeulen	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
96	Xandres Vervloesem	Lotto Soudal	1:06
97	Kévin Besson	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	s.t.
98	Maxime Urruty	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	1:08
99	Pierre Barbier	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
100	Jason Tesson	St Michel-Auber 93	1:11
101	Dayer Quintana	Arkéa-Samsic	1:13
102	Tristan Delacroix	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	1:14
103	Mads Würtz Schmidt	Israel-Premier Tech	1:17
104	Antoine Berlin	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	1:28
105	Jean Goubert	Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur	1:29

 

Prologue photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Arnaud Demare

Julian Alaphilippe

Nairo Quintana

Sep Vanmarcke

Third-place Tobais Ludvigsson

And Filippo Ganna on his way to first place.

Second-place Ethan Hayter

Filippo Ganna enjoys his win on the podium

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Start list, February 9, 2022:

Arkéa-Samsic

QUINTANA NAIRO

FLOREZ MIGUEL EDUARDO

HARDY ROMAIN

OWSIAN LUKASZ

BOUET MAXIME

QUINTANA DAYER

VAUQUELIN KEVIN

Astana-Qazaqstan

BRUSSENSKIY GLEB

DE BOD STEFAN

HENAO GOMEZ SEBASTIAN

NURLYHASSYM NURBERGEN

RIABUSHENKO ALEKSANDR

ROMO JAVIER

VELASCO SIMONE

Ag2r-Citroen

BOUCHARD Geoffrey

CALMEJANE Lilian

PARET PEINTRE Aurélien

PETERS Nans

PRODHOMME Nicolas

RAUGEL Antoine

WARBASSE Larry

Israel Start Up Nation

BARBIER Rudy

BEVIN Patrick

GOLDSTEIN Omer

HAGEN Carl Fredrik

HOLLENSTEIN Reto

JONES Taj

NEILANDS Krists

St Michel Auber 93

CARDIS Romain

ROSSETTO Stephane

TESSON Jesson

MALDONADO Anthony

HUREL Tony

PAILLOT Yoann

VAN NIEKERK Morne

B&B Hotel P/B KTM

GAUTIER Cyril

GOUGEARD Alexis

HEIDEMANN Miguel

MOZZATO Luca

PARISELLA Raphaël

ROLLAND Pierre

SCHONBERGER Sebastian

Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur

BERLIN Antoine

BESSON Kévin

COUANON Jonathan

DELACROIX Tristan

GOUBERT Jean

MIFSUD Andréa

URRUTY Maxime

Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl

ALAPHILIPPE Julian

ASGREEN Kasper

BALLERINI Davide

DEVENYNS Dries

KNOX James

VAN WILDER Ilan

VERVAEKE Louis

INEOS Grenadiers

Bernal Gomez Egan

Carapaz Montenegro Richard

Dunbar Edward

Hayter Ethan

Puccio Salvatore

Rowe Luke

Sheffied Magnus

Trek-Segafredo

Baroncini Filippo

Brambilla Gianluca

Cataldo Dario

Ciccone Giulio

Ghebreigzabhier Amanuel

Skjelmose Jensen Mattias

Tolhoek Antwan

Team TotalEnergies

Bodnar Mariej

Doubey Fabien

Ferron Valentin

Latour Pierre

Manzin Lorenzo

Simon Julien

Vuilleromoz Alexis

Groupama-FDJ

ARMIRAIL Bruno

ASKEY Lewis

LADAGNOUS Matthieu

LUDVIGSSON Tobias

MOLARD Rudy

ROUX Anthony

STORER Michael

Lotto Soudal

BEULLENS Cedric

GILBERT Philippe

HOLMES Matthew

MALECKI Kamil

VANHOUCKE Harm

VERSCHAEVE Viktor

VERVLOESEM Xandres

Movistar

GONZALEZ ABNER

IZAGUIRRE GORKA

JORGENSON MATTEO CONNOR

PEDRERO ANTONIO

RODRIGUEZ OSCAR

ROJAS JOSE JOAQUIN

Ivan Sosa

Cofidis

LAFAY VICTOR

BOHLI TOM

CHAMPION THOMAS

DELETTRE ALEXANDRE

GESCHKE SIMON

BIDARD FRANCOIS

PEREZ ANTHLONY

Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole

BOUDAT THOMAS

CARISEY CLEMENT

LEROUX SAMUEL

LEVEAU JEREMY

TABELLION VALENTIN

VAHTRA NORMAN

VERMEULEN EMIEL