2022 Etoile de Bessèges (2.1), France

52nd edition: February 2 - 6, 2022

Etoile de Bessèges podium history | 2021 edition | 2023 edition
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

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Sunday, February 6: 5th & final stage, Alès 10.63 km individual time trial.

Stage 5 photos

Final GC winner Benjamin Thomas on his ride in the city of Alès. Sirotti photo

Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Triumphs and Tragedies: The rise and fall of bicycle racing's champions is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the race city of Alès at 2:00 PM, local time: 14C (57F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the northwest at 23 km/hr (14 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here is a machine-translation of the report from final GC winner Benjamin Thomas' Team Cofidis:

Benjamin Thomas (26), victorious in the 3rd stage on Friday, managed to hold on to the end to win the first stage race of his career. 3rd in the final time trial on the roads of Alès this Sunday, he launched the Cofidis season perfectly by concluding a great week for the team.

Seconds after crossing the finish line, he lay on the ground, trying to regain his strength and catch his breath. Benjamin Thomas gave it his all this Sunday during the final time trial in Alès (10.6 km). The task was difficult in more ways than one, in particular because of the repetition of efforts throughout the week and in particular on yesterday's stage, where he had worked with the whole team to keep the leader’s jersey on his shoulders.

A golden week
His time is the height of his talent in his favorite exercise. He set off with the French time trial champion jersey, he who was crowned twice in the race for the national title (2019, 2021). Benjamin therefore held on until the end, conceding only 10 seconds to the winner of the day, Filippo Ganna. In the general classification, the Tarnais has the luxury of widening the gap with Alberto Bettiol (2nd, at 16 sec) and the winner of the day before, Tobias Halland Johannessen (3rd, at 32 sec).

"Benjamin is strong and he knows how to ride intellegently," said the team's general manager, Cédric Vasseur. The new Cofidis rider thus concludes with panache a superb week for the whole team at the Étoile de Bessèges. Bryan Coquard had opened the account Thursday in Rousson (2nd stage) before Benjamin won the next day and kept his jersey until the end.

Thomas, who has three stage victories to his name, thus won the first general classification of his career. He becomes the 5th rider in the history of Cofidis to win the Étoile de Bessèges, notably succeeding Christophe Laporte (2019) and Samuel Dumoulin (2010).

Above all, Thomas demonstrates that the work done before the season is already bearing fruit. The breakaway of Guillaume Martin and the 6th place of Bryan Coquard at the GP La Marseillaise, but also the 10th and 11th places overall of Alexis Renard and Simone Consonni at the Saudi Tour (which ended this Saturday) are other evidence of the dynamism of the moment. The Cofidis riders will apply themselves to coming races, ontinuing the dynamic initiated by Benjamin Thomas.

Complete results:

Photos

10.63 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.060 km/hr

1	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	15min 32sec
2	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	@ 7sec
3	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	0:10
4	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	0:11
5	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	0:18
6	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:19
7	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
8	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	0:22
9	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	0:23
10	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
11	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	0:27
12	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
13	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	0:28
14	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	0:34
15	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X	s.t.
16	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	0:35
17	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	0:38
18	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
19	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	0:40
20	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	0:41
21	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	0:42
22	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	0:43
23	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	0:44
24	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:45
25	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:46
26	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	0:47
27	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
28	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	0:48
29	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
30	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	0:49
31	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	0:50
32	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
33	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	0:52
34	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	s.t.
35	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	0:53
36	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	s.t.
37	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	0:55
38	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	0:59
39	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:00
40	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	1:01
41	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
42	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:02
43	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
44	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	1:03
45	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	1:05
46	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	1:07
47	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
48	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
49	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	1:08
50	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
51	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:09
52	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
53	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	1:10
54	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:11
55	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
56	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
57	Erik Resell	Uno-X	1:12
58	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	1:13
59	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	1:14
60	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	s.t.
61	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:15
62	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
63	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:16
64	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	1:17
65	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	1:18
66	Daniel Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
67	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:21
68	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:23
69	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
70	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	s.t.
71	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	1:24
72	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
73	Paul Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:25
74	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:26
75	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
76	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	1:28
77	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	1:29
78	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
79	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:30
80	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
81	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:33
82	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
83	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
84	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	1:34
85	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
86	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	1:35
87	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
88	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	1:37
89	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
90	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
91	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	1:40
92	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	1:41
93	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
94	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	1:42
95	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
96	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	1:43
97	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
98	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	1:46
99	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	1:47
100	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:48
101	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	s.t.
102	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	1:50
103	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	1:51
104	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	1:54
105	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
106	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:55
107	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:58
108	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	1:59
109	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
110	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:01
111	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
112	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	2:02
113	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:06
114	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:08
115	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	2:13
116	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
117	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	2:15
118	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:22
119	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	2:23
120	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:28
121	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:31
122	Karl Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:47
123	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	2:49

 

Final GC after stage five:

• Final GC leader: Bemnjamin Thomas (Cofidis)
• Points classification winner: Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo)
• Mountains classification winner: Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix)
• Best young rider: Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X)
• Team classification winner: TotalEnergies

630.06 kilometers (391.5 miles) raced at an average speed of 42.981 km/hr

1	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	14hr 39min 32sec
2	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	@ 16sec
3	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X	0:32
4	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:34
5	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	1:02
6	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	1:09
7	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	1:13
8	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	1:22
9	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	1:48
10	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:56
11	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	2:00
12	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	2:41
13	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	3:00
14	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	3:10
15	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	3:51
16	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	4:00
17	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	4:42
18	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	4:50
19	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	5:23
20	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	5:26
21	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	5:28
22	Pau Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:34
23	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	6:01
24	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:08
25	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	6:21
26	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	6:28
27	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	6:29
28	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	6:43
29	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	6:46
30	Daniel Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	7:12
31	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	7:21
32	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	7:37
33	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	7:44
34	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	7:54
35	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	8:06
36	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	8:24
37	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	9:11
38	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	9:25
39	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	9:46
40	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	10:05
41	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	10:08
42	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	10:26
43	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	10:33
44	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	10:47
45	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	11:02
46	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	11:03
47	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	11:12
48	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	11:26
49	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	11:31
50	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	11:36
51	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	11:49
52	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	11:51
53	Erik Resell	Uno-X	12:08
54	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	12:23
55	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	12:25
56	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	s.t.
57	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	12:36
58	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	12:37
59	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	13:47
60	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	13:52
61	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	14:16
62	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	14:36
63	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	14:41
64	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	14:56
65	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	15:03
66	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	15:04
67	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	15:22
68	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	15:24
69	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	15:36
70	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	15:42
71	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	15:52
72	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	16:01
73	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	16:18
74	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	16:46
75	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	16:48
76	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	17:01
77	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	17:12
78	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	17:13
79	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	17:28
80	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	17:31
81	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	17:43
82	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	18:39
83	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	18:44
84	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	19:46
85	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	19:48
86	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	20:34
87	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	20:34
88	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	21:07
89	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	21:23
90	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	21:35
91	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	21:36
92	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	22:47
93	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	23:03
94	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	23:06
95	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	23:09
96	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	23:27
97	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	23:38
98	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	23:48
99	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	24:08
100	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	24:52:
101	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	25:26
102	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	26:14
103	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
104	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	26:32
105	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	26:56
106	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	27:14
107	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	27:31
108	Karl Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	27:46
109	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	28:15
110	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	29:28
111	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	29:54
112	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	30:17
113	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	30:25
114	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	30:26
115	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	30:45
116	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	31:44
117	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	32:09
118	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	35:09
119	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	35:36
120	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	36:55
121	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	37:34
122	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	40:10
123	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	48:01

 

Stage 5 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Greg van Avermaet was 102nd, at 1min 50sec

It looks like it's early in the season for Tony Gallopin. He was 88th this day, at 1min 37sec

Tobias Halland Johannessen finished third in the GC

Alberto Bettiol was sixth in the time trial, but finished second in the GC.

Bauke Mollema's efforts paid off with a fourth place in the time trial.

Winner of the 2022 Etoile de Bessèges Benjamin Thomas wearing the tricolor jersey of the French Time Trial Champion. He was third in the time trial.

Mads Pedersen was third in the time trial.

World time trial champion Filippo Ganna on his way to winning the stage.

2022 Etoile de Bessèges winner Benjamin Thomas enjoying his victory.

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Saturday, February 5: Stage 4, St. Hilaire de Brethmas - Le Mont Bouquet, 145.47 km

Tobias Halland Johannessen takes the fourth stage. Photo: Bezannier/Donne

Les Woodland's book Cycling's World Championships: The Inside Story is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at Alès near the start at 1:40 PM, local time: 15C (59F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 26 km/hr (16 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's a machine translation of the race update from GC leader Benjamin Thomas' Team Cofidis.

At the end of a stage arriving at the top of Mont Bouquet which saw Tobias Halland Johannessen win, Benjamin Thomas was able to stand up to the best on the steepest slopes, with the help of a dazzling Rémy Rochas, to keep his overall leader's jersey on the eve of the last stage. Tomorrow, he will start the final 11km time trial in Alès with a 7 sec lead over Alberto Bettiol and 8 sec over the winner of the day. The ambitious French champion of the discipline to seek the final victory.

Benjamin Thomas, 1st in the general classification: "My teammates did an exceptional job, I really have to thank them, especially Rémy Rochas in the climb of Mont Bouquet who was my guardian angel. We assumed our status, we were mistreated at approaching the final ascent, I was quite far on foot, but it got up to speed and I didn't panic. After Rémy gave me the tempo, and when there was the attack from the Norwegian, I expected it. I didn't answer right away, I tried to take my time without exploding.

"I am doing a good operation and I am happy with my day, I would like to thank my team again for the exceptional work."

Alain Deloeuil, Sporting Director: "It was still a very hard last climb, because it's not regular, with flat areas, depressions, and it still goes up to 15% afterwards. Benjamin made the perfect climb thanks to Rémy's enormous work, and they knew how to manage their ascent even if it was something new for him. We keep the jersey for a few seconds. We said to ourselves in the morning that if we didn't lose much thing in general, we could hope that things will go well in terms of time tomorrow. Tonight, we remain leader but it's the freshness that will speak. The objective now is the final victory."

Complete results:

145.47 kilometers raced at an average speed of 41.490 km/hr

1	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X	3hr 30min 22sec
2	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
3	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
4	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
5	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	@ 12sec
6	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	0:20
7	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
8	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	0:21
9	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
10	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:23
11	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
12	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	0:25
13	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
14	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	0:27
15	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	0:33
16	Daniel Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:34
17	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
18	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
19	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:44
20	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	0:48
21	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
22	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:54
23	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	0:59
24	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	1:01
25	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	1:04
26	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	1:09
27	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	1:14
28	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	1:22
29	Sebastian Schonberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
30	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
31	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:30
32	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
33	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	1:43
34	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:54
35	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	1:57
36	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
37	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:01
38	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	2:10
39	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	2:12
40	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	2:21
41	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	2:23
42	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	2:28
43	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
44	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	2:46
45	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
46	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:56
47	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:02
48	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	3:17
49	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	s.t.
50	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
51	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
52	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
53	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	3:24
54	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	3:37
55	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	3:48
56	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
57	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	3:55
58	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
59	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
60	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
61	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	3:57
62	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	4:10
63	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	4:22
64	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	4:24
65	Erik Resell	Uno-X	4:33
66	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	4:44
67	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	s.t.
68	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
70	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
71	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
72	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	5:01
73	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	5:03
74	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	5:03
75	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	5:09
76	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	5:27
77	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	5:47
78	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
79	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
80	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
81	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
82	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
83	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	6:15
84	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
85	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	6:24
86	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	6:27
87	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	6:32
88	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
89	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	6:46
90	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
91	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	s.t.
92	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	7:16
93	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
94	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
95	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	7:24
96	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
97	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	7:52
98	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	8:46
99	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
100	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
101	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
102	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
103	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	9:14
104	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	9:16
105	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	9:23
106	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	9:28
107	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	10:08
108	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	10:11
109	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
110	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
111	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
112	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	s.t.
113	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
114	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
115	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	s.t.
116	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	11:03
117	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
118	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
119	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
120	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
121	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
122	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
123	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
124	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
125	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
126	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
127	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
128	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	11:52
129	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	11:54
130	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	12:34
131	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	14:13

 

GC after stage 3:

617.51 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 41.911 km/hr

1	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	14hr 23min 50sec
2	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	@ 7sec
3	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X	0:08
4	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:25
5	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:26
6	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	0:56
7	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
8	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	1:13
9	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	1:14
10	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:16
11	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	1:35
12	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	1:48
13	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	2:15
14	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	2:17
15	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	3:17
16	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	3:27
17	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	3:39
18	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	3:53
19	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	3:58
20	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
21	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	4:05
22	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:19
23	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	4:31
24	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	4:46
25	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	4:51
26	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	5:14
27	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	5:21
28	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:28
29	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	5:55
30	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	5:59
31	Daniel Alejandro Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:04
32	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	6:06
33	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	6:07
34	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	6:34
35	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	6:44
36	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	7:33
37	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	8:01
38	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	8:24
39	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	8:28
40	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	8:39
41	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	8:39
42	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	8:45
43	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	9:00
44	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	9:14
45	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	9:37
46	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	9:48
47	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	10:02
48	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	10:15
49	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	10:18
50	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	10:25
51	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	10:32
52	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	10:34
53	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	10:38
54	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	10:44
55	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	11:00
56	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	11:02
57	Erik Resell	Uno-X	11:06
58	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	11:32
59	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	11:35
60	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	11:43
61	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	11:52
62	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	12:24
63	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	13:18
64	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	13:19
65	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	13:25
66	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	13:26
67	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	13:29
68	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	13:44
69	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	13:58
70	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	14:01
71	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	14:17
72	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	14:20
73	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	14:58
74	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	15:02
75	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	15:03
76	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	15:04
77	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	15:16
78	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	15:26
79	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	15:28
80	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	15:38
81	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
82	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	15:46
83	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	15:47
84	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	15:48
85	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	16:35
86	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	16:44
87	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	17:07
88	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	18:32
89	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	18:58
90	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	19:28
91	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	19:29
92	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	19:52
93	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	19:58
94	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	20:05
95	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	20:38
96	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	20:46
97	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	21:36
98	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	21:42
99	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	21:45
100	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	21:45
101	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	21:50
102	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	22:13
103	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	22:18
104	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	22:27
105	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	22:59
106	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	25:01
107	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	25:09
108	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
109	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	25:11
110	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	25:16
111	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	25:42
112	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
113	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	25:50
114	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	27:08
115	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	27:16
116	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	28:02
117	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	28:04
118	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	28:35
119	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	28:54
120	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	29:12
121	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	29:18
122	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	29:51
123	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	30:20
124	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	30:55
125	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	33:38
126	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	34:10
127	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	35:51
128	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	36:15
129	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	36:22
130	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	38:54
131	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	46:19

 

---

Friday, February 4: Stage 3, Bessèges - Bessèges, 155.56 km

Benjamin Thomas can sit up and enjoy his win. Sirotti photo

Stoic philosopher Epictetus' Golden Sayings is available as an audiobook here. For the Kindle eBook version, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Weather at the start/finish city of Bessèges at 2:05 PM, local time: 15C (59F), sunny, with the wind from the north at 11 km/hr (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here is a machine-translation of the report from winner Benjamin Thomas' Cofidis team:

The day after Bryan Coquard's victory, it was Benjamin Thomas' turn to offer Cofidis a second victory after achieving a hell of a number. On the offensive in the last difficulty, he won and took the lead in the general classification. From now on, the whole team will work to help him keep his leader's jersey.

A final acceleration to shine, raise your arms, and demonstrate all your talent: Benjamin Thomas achieved a hell of a number this Friday on the roads of the Étoile de Bessèges at the end of an intense stage, 155 km long. You should have seen him come out on top in the last difficulty, resist two strong men, Alberto Bettiol and Tobias Halland Johannessen, before flying away alone to victory.

Benjamin Thomas, who joined the Cofidis team in the off-season, thus demonstrates his ability to shine as much on the track (he is a four-time world champion) as on the road. Since his debut with the team, his progress has been constant: 13th at the GP de la Marseillaise, 8th in the 1st stage then 6th in the 2nd at the Étoile de Bessèges, he therefore imposed himself on his 4th day of racing under his new colors.

At 26, he thus won the 5th victory of his career, the 1st in a road race since July 2017 (1st stage of the Tour de Wallonie). On the other hand, the Tarnais is one of the best Frenchmen in the time trial (reigning French champion), which will be a major asset for the last stage, this Sunday, with a length of just over 10 km in Ales.

Benjamin took the opportunity to take the lead in the general classification, 7 seconds ahead of Alberto Bettiol. The team will have to be particularly united and resistant in order to support him throughout the 146.71 km to be covered between Saint-Hilaire-de-Brethmas and the difficult final ascent to Mont Bouquet. The entire Cofidis team can be delighted with the level displayed and above all the qualities of self-sacrifice and perseverance which made it possible to experience two consecutive victories, those of Bryan Coquard yesterday and Benjamin Thomas this afternoon.

This success is all the more precious and emotional as it took place on the day of the funeral of Bernard Quilfen, the team's former sports director (1997-2011). It was the most beautiful tribute that the northern team could pay him and all the members of the team would like to send their most sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

Benjamin Thomas, 1st: "I knew the final well, I had also spotted this stage. After Bryan's victory yesterday, we were really freed up! We did a great job with the whole team, which helped me protected in the last bump. On the descent, I knew it could be tricky and I continued at full speed without counting my pedal strokes with Alberto Bettiol and Tobias Halland Johannessen. I really felt the recovery on a false uphill slope 3 km from the finish. And after that, it was a chase to the line. I'm really super satisfied, it rewards the work of the whole team."

Alain Deloeuil, Sporting Director: "Two days, two victorious riders and two successes with style! There is a very good atmosphere within the group and the team is working well. They have all shown that it is important not to panic and be calm throughout the race. Our objective this morning was to protect Benjamin and put him in the best possible position for the general classification. Victory was a step to take, but Benjamin had checked off this stage, he was keen to shine there. When the opportunity presented itself at the top of the climb, he knew how to seize it to go and get this great victory alone. We are in a positive spiral and we will do everything to continue to enjoy it!"

Complete results:

155.56 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.713 km/hr

140 starters, 5 of yesterday's finishers did not start and there were 4 abandons, leaving 136 classified finishers.

1	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	3hr 38min 31sec
2	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:09
3	Tobias Johannessen	Uno-X	s.t.
4	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	0:15
5	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
6	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	s.t.
7	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
8	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
9	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
10	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
11	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
12	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
13	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
14	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
15	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
16	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
17	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
18	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
19	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
20	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
21	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
22	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
23	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
24	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
25	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
26	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	s.t.
27	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
28	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
29	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
30	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	0:24
31	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	0:47
32	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	1:08
33	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
34	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
35	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
36	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
37	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
38	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
39	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
40	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
41	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
42	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
43	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
44	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
45	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
46	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
47	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
48	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
49	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
50	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
51	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
52	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
53	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
54	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
55	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
56	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
57	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	s.t.
58	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
59	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
60	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
61	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
62	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	1:26
63	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:56
64	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
65	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:08
66	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:29
67	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:36
68	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	3:13
69	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
70	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
71	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
72	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
73	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
74	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
75	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
76	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	3:56
77	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:10
78	Daniel Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
79	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
80	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
81	Erik Resell	Uno-X	s.t.
82	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
83	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	5:08
84	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
85	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
86	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
87	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
88	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	6:27
89	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	7:48
90	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	8:10
91	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	9:32
92	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
93	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
94	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
95	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
96	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
97	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
98	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
99	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
100	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
101	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
102	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	s.t.
103	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
104	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
105	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
106	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
107	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
108	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
109	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
110	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
111	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
112	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
113	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
114	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
115	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
116	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
117	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
118	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
119	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
120	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
121	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X	s.t.
122	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
123	Yaël Joalland	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
124	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
125	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
126	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
127	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
128	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
129	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
130	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
131	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
132	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
133	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
134	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	13:59
135	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
136	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.

 

GC after stage 3:

472.04 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.368 km/hr

1	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	10hr 53min 5sec
2	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	@ 7sec
3	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	0:15
4	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	0:31
5	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	0:33
6	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:36
7	Tobias Johannessen	Uno-X	0:41
8	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:42
9	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	0:45
10	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	0:51
11	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	0:59
12	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:12
13	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
14	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
15	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	1:24
16	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
17	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	1:52
18	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	1:55
19	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	s.t.
20	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	2:10
21	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	2:19
22	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:20
23	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
24	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	2:26
25	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	2:33
26	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	2:36
27	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:45
28	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	3:06
29	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	3:09
30	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
31	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
32	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	3:12
33	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	3:17
34	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	s.t.
35	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	3:21
36	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	3:30
37	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	3:34
38	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:43
39	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	3:57
40	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	4:20
41	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	4:35
42	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	4:37
43	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	4:39
44	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	5:00
45	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	5:06
46	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:07
47	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
48	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	5:13
49	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	5:14
50	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	5:28
51	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	5:47
52	Daniel Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:53
53	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	5:54
54	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	6:00
55	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	6:01
56	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	6:17
57	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:41
58	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	6:45
59	Erik Resell	Uno-X	6:56
60	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	7:17
61	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	7:21
62	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	7:28
63	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	7:31
64	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	7:57
65	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
66	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	8:10
67	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	8:11
68	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	8:58
69	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	9:23
70	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	10:02
71	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	10:06
72	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	10:10
73	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	10:11
74	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	10:58
75	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	11:01
76	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
77	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	11:38
78	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
79	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	11:43
80	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	11:51
81	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	11:54
82	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
83	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
84	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
85	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	12:04
86	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	12:15
87	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	12:23
88	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	12:24
89	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	12:25
90	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	12:53
91	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	12:59
92	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	13:06
93	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	13:22
94	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	13:32
95	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	13:34
96	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	13:39
97	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	13:59
98	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
99	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	14:01
100	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	14:29
101	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X	15:12
102	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	15:21
103	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	15:27
104	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	15:53
105	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	16:36
106	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	16:46
107	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	16:56
108	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	16:58
109	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	17:20
110	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	17:22
111	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	18:10
112	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	18:32
113	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	19:00
114	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	19:01
115	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	19:30
116	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	19:40
117	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	20:15
118	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	20:18
119	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
120	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	20:27
121	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	20:28
122	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	21:15
123	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	22:02
124	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	22:07
125	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	22:12
126	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	22:22
127	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè	22:32
128	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	23:30
129	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	23:53
130	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	26:03
131	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	26:54
132	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	27:50
133	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	28:14
134	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	31:35
135	Yaël Joalland	U Nantes-Atlantique	32:15
136	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	35:39

 

---

Thursday, February 3: Stage 2, St. Christol lez Alès - Rousson, 158.88 km

Bryan Coquard wins in Rousson.

Plato's dialogue Crito 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 Rousson at 12:00 noon, local time: 13C (56F), sunny, with the wind from the west at 11 km/hr (7 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's a machine translation of the report from stage winner Bryan Coquard's Cofidis team.

Last week, even before starting the season on the roads of the south of France, Bryan Coquard confided that he felt "to be in particularly good shape" at the end of the two pre-season training courses. And the sprinter was quick to demonstrate it on the roads. Present in the final sprint of the Marseillaise (6th), the new Cofidis rider had started the Étoile de Bessèges with the desire to shine and give everything.

This Thursday, between Saint-Christol-les-Alès and Rousson, it was he who won after a particularly impressive scenario. The sprinter hung on to the end in the last difficulty. This time Bryan offered himself the luxury of coming to the line in the style of the winner of the day before, the Dane Mads Pedersen, to pick up his first bouquet of the season.

At 29, he gained the 46th victory of his career, his 9th on the roads of the Étoile de Bessèges. In his wake, another Cofidis runner stood out: Benjamin Thomas. The Tarnais, 6th in the day's stage and 8th the day before, moved up to 4th place in the general classification, 20 seconds behind the leader, Mads Pedersen.

The joy felt by the team, this Thursday afternoon on the Gard roads, brilliantly symbolizes the ambitions of Cofidis this season. With their new colors, the riders of the northern team will do everything to give the best from the start of the season. Long live the sequel!

Bryan Coquard: "It was a very difficult finish. I thought I would never be able to pass Mads. It was a violent effort and I'm super happy. It's been over a year and a half since I raised my arms. I stayed focused all the time, I think I'm a very humble person, and I've worked a lot since I started in the pros and I've never spared my efforts. It's a great reward today. I'm very proud to raise my arms with this new shirt, especially since it allows us to launch a good dynamic."

Alain Deloeuil, Sporting Director: "It's a very good result for this 2nd stage with the victory of Bryan after which he has been racing for more than a year. Now it's done and also in his new colors with Cofidis. We are happy for the team but above all for himself, he deserves it. We saw that he was doing very well during the last camp we did in Spain and that made this camp a reality by winning in a very good way. The team riding Bessèges is going very strong, it just needed this victory to restart the machine. We now have Benjamin Thomas (6th in the stage) who is well placed in the GC. It's not over, we can still claim to make great results by Sunday.”

Complete results:

158.88 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.174 km/hr

1	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	3hr 41min 46sec
2	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
3	Tobias Halland	Uno-X	s.t.
4	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
5	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	@ 4sec
6	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	0:06
7	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	0:07
8	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
9	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	s.t.
10	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
11	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
12	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
13	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:17
14	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
15	Daniel Alejandro Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
16	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
17	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
18	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
19	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
20	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
21	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
22	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	0:22
23	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	s.t.
24	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	0;24
25	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	0:29
26	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
27	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	0:32
28	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
29	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
30	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
31	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
32	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	0:35
33	Kenneth Van Rooy	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
34	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	0:38
35	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
36	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
37	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	s.t.
38	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
39	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
40	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
41	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
42	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:44
43	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	0:46
44	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	0:48
45	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	0:52
46	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	0:55
47	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	1:03
48	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
49	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:05
50	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
51	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
52	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
53	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	1:08
54	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	1:09
55	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	1:18
56	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	s.t.
57	Aaron Van Poucke	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	1:21
58	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
59	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
60	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
61	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
62	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
63	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
64	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
65	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
66	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
67	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
68	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
69	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
70	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
71	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
72	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
73	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	s.t.
74	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
75	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
76	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
77	Jordan Jegat	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
78	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
79	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
80	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
81	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	1:31
82	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
83	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
84	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
85	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
86	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	1:46
87	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	1:54
88	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
89	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	1:59
90	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	2:11
91	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	2:13
92	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
93	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
94	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
95	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
96	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	2:16
97	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
98	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	2:18
99	Yaël Joalland	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
100	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	2:23
101	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	2:26
102	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	2:29
103	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
104	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	s.t.
105	Erik Resell	Uno-X	s.t.
106	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	s.t.
107	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X	s.t.
108	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	2:32
109	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:57
110	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	3:02
111	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	3:05
112	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	3:10
113	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
114	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
115	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
116	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
117	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	3:15
118	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	3:16
119	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	3:31
120	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	3:35
121	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
122	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	3:42
123	Alex Colman	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
124	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
125	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
126	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
127	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	3:47
128	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
129	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	3:57
130	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	6:00
131	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	6:03
132	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	6:04
133	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
134	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	6:07
135	Itamar Einhorn	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
136	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	s.t.
137	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
138	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	12:01
139	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
140	Filippo Fiorelli	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
141	Enrico Battaglin	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
142	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
143	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	12:11
144	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
145	Sacha Modolo	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.

 

GC after stage 2:

316.48 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 43.698 km/hr

1	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	7hr 14min 17sec
2	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	@ 17sec
3	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:21
4	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	0:29
5	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	0:35
6	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:41
7	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:44
8	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	0:47
9	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	0:51
10	Tobias Halland	Uno-X	0:53
11	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	0:55
12	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	1:01
13	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	1:04
14	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:14
15	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
16	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
17	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	1:26
18	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
19	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	1:29
20	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
21	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	1:35
22	Louis Barré	U Nantes-Atlantique	1:39
23	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	1:43
24	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	1:45
25	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	1:48
26	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	1:54
27	Kenneth Van Rooy	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	1:57
28	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
29	Daniel Alejandro Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:00
30	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	2:04
31	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X	2:08
32	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	2:12
33	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:15
34	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:18
35	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
36	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
37	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
38	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
39	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	2:21
40	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
41	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	2:26
42	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
43	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	2:28
44	Emmanuel Morin	U Nantes-Atlantique	2:30
45	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:32
46	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	2:35
47	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	2:36
48	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	2:38
49	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:48
50	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	2:52
51	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	2:58
52	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	3:00
53	Erik Resell	Uno-X	3:03
54	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	3:04
55	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	3:08
56	Maël Guégan	U Nantes-Atlantique	3:09
57	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	3:10
58	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	3:14
59	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:24
60	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	3:32
61	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	3:38
62	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	3:45
63	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X	3:51
64	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	3:59
65	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	4:07
66	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
67	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	4:08
68	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	4:15
69	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	4:16
70	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	4:18
71	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	4:19
72	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	4:21
73	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	4:24
74	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	4:25
75	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
76	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	4:32
77	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	4:44
78	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	4:46
79	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	4:54
80	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	5:09
81	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	5:14
82	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
83	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	5:19
84	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X	5:57
85	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	6:06
86	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	6:12
87	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	6:30
88	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	6:37
89	Itamar Einhorn	Israel-Premier Tech	6:55
90	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	7:21
91	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	7:43
92	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	7:59
93	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X	s.t.
94	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	8:00
95	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	8:07
96	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	9:17
97	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	9:45
98	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	9:49
99	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
100	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	10:04
101	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	10:15
102	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	10:16
103	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	10:20
104	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	10:25
105	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	10:45
106	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	10:47
107	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
108	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	11:00
109	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
110	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	11:03
111	Aaron Van Poucke	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
112	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
113	Tom Paquet	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
114	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
115	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
116	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
117	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
118	Jordan Jegat	U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
119	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	11:12
120	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	11:13
121	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
122	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	11:55
123	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	12:00
124	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	12:08
125	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	12:21
126	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X	12:41
127	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	12:47
128	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	12:52
129	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	12:57
130	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	13:17
131	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	13:19
132	Alex Colman	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	13:24
133	Enrico Battaglin	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	13:44
134	Sacha Modolo	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	13:50
135	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	14:15
136	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	14:32
137	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	14:38
138	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	16:12
139	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	18:35
140	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	21:43
141	Mathias Le Turnier	U Nantes-Atlantique	22:03
142	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	22:20
143	Yaël Joalland	U Nantes-Atlantique	23:00
144	Filippo Fiorelli	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	24:41:00
145	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	26:24:00

 

---

Wednesday, February 2: Stage 1, Bellegarde - Bellegarde, 160.6 km

Mads Pedersen takes the first stage. Tommaso Pelagalli 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 the start/finish city of Bellegarde at 2:20 PM, local time: 17C (63F), sunny, with the wind from north-northwest at 35 km/hr (22 mph). No rain is forecast.

The race: Here's the report from winner Mads Pedersen's Trek-Segafredo team.

After a second-place finish at La Marseillaise at the weekend, Mads Pedersen went one better in the first stage of the French stage race, marking Trek-Segafredo’s first success of the 2022 campaign.

In his pre-race briefing, Sport Director Kim Andersen warned the team that the race would be “chaos”. Sometimes talk of crosswinds is overhyped, but today they were a very real prospect, and a warning that our riders paid close attention to. Gusts of 37kph (over 20mph) and many exposed sections littered the course in the Gard department of southern France.

The promise of chaos became reality with over 60km of racing to go. The peloton split dramatically – around 25 riders held the lead whilst behind the main group scrabbled to recompose itself, and thus begin the pursuit of the leaders. Alongside Pedersen was his right hand man, Toms Skujins, who himself is in training for a tilt at the classics. The Trek-Segafredo boys played a smart game, not overexerting themselves early, contributing to the momentum of the group when necessary.

With 40km to go the leaders passed through the finish line – at the top of Côte de la Tour – for the first time. It was a useful exercise, as it allowed Pedersen to refamiliarize himself with the finish. As the leaders rolled through the finish, a select group of chasers used the climb to launch an attack. They came agonizingly close to the lead group of Pedersen, just 10 seconds behind at one point, but ultimately couldn’t make contact.

Eventually, it became clear that the winner would come from the 25 leaders, and many eyes were on Pedersen. The 600m but painfully step Côte de la Tour would decide the winner. Skujins masterfully dropped his leader on the tail of another team’s leadout at the foot of the climb. Pedersen remained calm when the attacks started, saving his winning move for the last 300 meters. When the road flattened out, the Dane had plenty of daylight between himself and second best, leaving him plenty of time to savor his first win of 2022.

Complete results:

160.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 42.286 km/hr.

1	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	3hr 32min 47sec
2	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	@ 1sec
3	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	s.t.
4	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
5	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
6	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	0:04
7	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	0:07
8	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
9	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
10	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:11
11	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	0:13
12	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:18
13	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
14	Erik Resell	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
15	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	0:24
16	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	0:31
17	Itamar Einhorn	Israel-Premier Tech	0:32
18	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	0:41
19	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
20	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
21	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
22	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
23	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
24	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
25	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
26	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
27	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
28	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
29	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
30	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
31	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
32	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
33	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
34	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
35	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
36	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
37	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
38	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
39	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
40	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
41	Emmanuel Morin	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	0:53
42	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
43	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
44	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	0:54
45	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
46	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	0:59
47	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
48	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	1:06
49	Louis Barré	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
50	Kenneth Van Rooy	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
51	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
52	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	1:11
53	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
54	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:15
55	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:23
56	Sacha Modolo	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
57	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:24
58	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
59	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
60	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	1:27
61	Daniel Alejandro Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
62	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
63	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
64	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
65	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
66	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
67	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	s.t.
68	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
70	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
71	Enrico Battaglin	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
72	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	1:32
73	Maël Guégan	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
74	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	1:47
75	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
76	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
77	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
78	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:01
79	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	2:08
80	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
81	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:11
82	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	2:14
83	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	2:39
84	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:47
85	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
86	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	3:12
87	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:27
88	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	3:29
89	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
90	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
91	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	3:55
92	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:58
93	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	4:02
94	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
95	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
96	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
97	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
98	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:36
99	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
100	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	5:14
101	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
102	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
103	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	6:18
104	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
105	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	6:48
106	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	7:46
107	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
108	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	9:26
109	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
110	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
111	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
112	Aaron Van Poucke	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
113	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
114	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
115	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
116	Alex Colman	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
117	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	s.t.
118	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
119	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
120	Tom Paquet	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
121	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
122	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
123	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
124	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
125	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
126	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
127	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
128	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
129	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
130	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
131	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
132	Jordan Jegat	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
133	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
134	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
135	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	9:53
136	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
137	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
138	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
139	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
140	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	10:17
141	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	10:34
142	Filippo Fiorelli	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	12:24
143	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	20:01
144	Mathias Le Turnier	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	20:26
145	Yaël Joalland	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.

 

GC after stage 1:

1	Mads Pedersen	Trek-Segafredo	3hr 32min 37sec
2	Hugo Hofstetter	Arkéa-Samsic	@ 5sec
3	Edvald Boasson-Hagen	TotalEnergies	0:07
4	Alberto Bettiol	EF Education-EasyPost	0:11
5	Mathieu Burgaudeau	TotalEnergies	s.t.
6	Christopher Lawless	TotalEnergies	0:14
7	Filippo Ganna	INEOS Grenadiers	0:17
8	Benjamin Thomas	Cofidis	s.t.
9	Greg Van Avermaet	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
10	Toms Skujins	Trek-Segafredo	0:21
11	Connor Swift	Arkéa-Samsic	0:23
12	Pierre Latour	TotalEnergies	0:28
13	Richard Carapaz	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
14	Erik Resell	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
15	Antoine Duchesne	Groupama-FDJ	0:34
16	Anders Skaarseth	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	0:41
17	Itamar Einhorn	Israel-Premier Tech	0:42
18	Alex Kirsch	Trek-Segafredo	0:51
19	Clément Russo	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
20	Guillaume Van Keirsbulck	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
21	Thomas Boudat	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
22	Arne Marit	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
23	Flavien Maurelet	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
24	Michael Valgren	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
25	Jens Keukeleire	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
26	Tobias Halland Johannessen	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
27	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
28	Antoine Raugel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
29	Bryan Coquard	Cofidis	s.t.
30	Thibaut Pinot	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
31	Magnus Cort	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
32	Samuel Gaze	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
33	Matis Louvel	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
34	Hugo Houle	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
35	Remy Mertz	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
36	Paul Lapeira	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
37	Gerben Thijssen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
38	Diego Ulissi	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
39	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
40	Lawrence Warbasse	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
41	Emmanuel Morin	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	1:03
42	Piet Allegaert	Cofidis	s.t.
43	Lilian Calmejane	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
44	Jérémy Cabot	TotalEnergies	1:04
45	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
46	Jens Reynders	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	1:09
47	Lukasz Wisniowski	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
48	Kristoffer Halvorsen	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	1:16
49	Louis Barré	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
50	Kenneth Van Rooy	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
51	Ward Vanhoof	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
52	Matthieu Ladagnous	Groupama-FDJ	1:21
53	Alan Riou	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
54	Quentin Jauregui	B&B Hotels-KTM	1:25
55	Théo Delacroix	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	1:33
56	Sacha Modolo	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
57	Maxime Jarnet	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	1:34
58	Sebastian Schönberger	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
59	Samuele Zoccarato	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
60	Magnus Sheffield	INEOS Grenadiers	1:37
61	Daniel Alejandro Mendez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
62	Tony Gallopin	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
63	Lindsay De Vylder	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
64	Filippo Baroncini	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
65	Eugenio Sanchez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
66	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
67	Geoffrey Soupe	TotalEnergies	s.t.
68	Sebastien Reichenbach	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
69	Alessandro Covi	UAE Team Emirates	1:37
70	Luc Wirtgen	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
71	Enrico Battaglin	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
72	Nicolas Debeaumarché	St Michel-Auber 93	1:42
73	Maël Guégan	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
74	Ayco Bastiaens	Alpecin-Fenix	1:57
75	Fabien Doubey	TotalEnergies	s.t.
76	Danny Van der Tuuk	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
77	Laurens De Plus	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
78	Karl Patrick Lauk	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	2:11
79	Boy van Poppel	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	2:18
80	Daryl Impey	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
81	Norman Vahtra	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:21
82	Yoann Paillot	St Michel-Auber 93	2:24
83	Anthony Maldonado	St Michel-Auber 93	2:49
84	Samuel Leroux	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	2:57
85	Tobias Ludvigsson	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
86	Jonas Gregaard	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	3:22
87	Victor Koretzky	B&B Hotels-KTM	3:37
88	Luca Colnaghi	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	3:39
89	Louis Blouwe	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
90	Cériel Desal	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	s.t.
91	Aimé De Gendt	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	4:05
92	Thibault Ferasse	B&B Hotels-KTM	4:08
93	Milan Menten	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	4:12
94	Morne Van Niekerk	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
95	Guy Sagiv	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
96	Corbin Strong	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
97	Thomas Scully	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
98	Francisco Galván	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:46
99	Martí Márquez	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
100	Miguel Heidemann	B&B Hotels-KTM	5:24
101	Bruno Armirail	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
102	Rasmus Tiller	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
103	Morten Hulgaard	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	6:28
104	Julius Johansen	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
105	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	6:58
106	Dries De Bondt	Alpecin-Fenix	7:56
107	Ben Tulett	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
108	Antonio Tiberi	Trek-Segafredo	9:36
109	Bauke Mollema	Trek-Segafredo	s.t.
110	Jose Herrada	Cofidis	s.t.
111	Edward Dunbar	INEOS Grenadiers	s.t.
112	Aaron Van Poucke	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
113	Alessandro Verre	Arkéa-Samsic	s.t.
114	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
115	Kristian Sbaragli	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
116	Alex Colman	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	s.t.
117	Rémy Rochas	Cofidis	s.t.
118	Julien Vermote	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
119	Alexys Brunel	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
120	Tom Paquet	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
121	Fabio Mazzucco	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
122	Raphael Parisella	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
123	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
124	Alexandre Delettre	Cofidis	s.t.
125	Clément Carisey	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
126	Alessandro Santaromita	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	s.t.
127	Evaldas Siskevicius	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
128	Georg Zimmermann	Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert	s.t.
129	Vegard Stake Laengen	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
130	Joel Suter	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
131	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
132	Jordan Jegat	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.
133	Jay Vine	Alpecin-Fenix	s.t.
134	Tony Hurel	St Michel-Auber 93	s.t.
135	Tom Paquot	Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces	10:03
136	Thomas Denis	GO Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole	s.t.
137	Alexis Gougeard	B&B Hotels-KTM	s.t.
138	Clément Champoussin	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
139	Mikaël Chérel	Ag2r-Citroën	s.t.
140	Pascal Ackermann	UAE Team Emirates	10:27
141	Ivo Oliveira	UAE Team Emirates	10:44
142	Filippo Fiorelli	Bardiani CSF Faizanè	12:34
143	Taj Jones	Israel-Premier Tech	20:11
144	Mathias Le Turnier	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	20:36
145	Yaël Joalland	Team U Nantes-Atlantique	s.t.