The real start was given to 154 riders at 13:01 under grey skies. France’s Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) and Denmark’s Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X) broke clear after 16 km and received the go-ahead from the peloton. Their lead topped at 3:45 at kilometre 35 and the bunch, led by Lotto Dstny and Alpecin Deceuninck riders, maintained a safe three-minute gap.
After the first ascent of the Cote de Millon-la-Chapelle, on which Ourselin collected three points, the gap went down gradually and was only 2:05 when the pack crossed the finish line for the first time.
Break over
The tempo steadily increased in the second lap of the day with the sprinting teams leading the chase and the gap was down to the minute with 50 km to go. The two escapees now had to be content with reaching the last climb, 20 km from the finish, to try and fight it out for the KOM jersey.
With 40 km left, Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo Visma team jumped to the front of the bunch and the speed gained another gear. Ten kilometres further, Ourselin and Gregaard were reined in after more than 120 km at the front.
Tireless Powless
As the tension increased, a crash took place in the peloton, involving half a dozen riders, but the only rider forced to stop was France’s Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-Samsic). Neilson Powless (EF Education) attacked at the bottom of the last bump with 20 km to go and the peloton split. Tadej Pogacar was on the American’s heels with Arnaud Demare and a group of 27 riders broke clear, taking some favourites like Dani Martinez or Simon Yates off-guard.
As the the bunch regrouped with 16 km to go, the tireless Powless surged again.
Pogacar’s show of strength
Winner of GP La Marseillaise earlier this season, the American held the pack at bay until 7 km from the line. The only intermediate sprint of the day saw Pogacar surge to pick the six seconds up for grabs. France’s Pierre Latour jumped behind him and the two were quickly joined by Jonas Vingegaard at the front. While the two pre-race favourites finally waited for the pack, Latour went on. But he was run down in the last two kilometres as the pack was gearing up for the bunch sprint. Merlier’s team-mate Florian Senechal attacked at the red flame, disorganizing the sprint for their rivals, and paving the way for his leader’s show of strength. Pogacar leads the young rider’s classification.
Neilson Powless: “My main goal is to win something”
Tim Merlier : “It’s a great pride to be part of that train”
The team was very strong and I was perfectly led out. There was a tough climb in the finale. We managed to come back just before the last climb and then I was dropped. But we were quite a few riders chasing at the front and we worked together until the finish.
It’s really a great honor and lots of pride to be in that (Soudal Quick Step) train. For me, it’s unbelievable at a personal level but also at team level. I’m really proud of this jersey. We’re going to try to keep and maybe win again tomorrow.
Reaction from Gaia Realini:
“I’m so excited, so happy, really hard to find the right words to describe my feeling. My first win as a professional rider, with this wonderful one-two, in my Italy, in front of so many friends and my family…. I can’t really think of anything better, I am overjoyed.
“Today I was in the same situation I experienced at UAE Tour. We were in front by ourselves, and together, by mutual agreement, we managed to make the difference. At the last KOM Paolo Slongo, from the team car, asked Amanda if she agreed to let me pass first at the finish line. She was happy to do so and for that I really thank her. The same goes for Elynor, Brodie, and Tayler. It was through their work that the decisive action came about.
“Today was not a race on paper for climbers. We lacked a sprinter to look for a bunch finish. We opted for aggressive tactics. We had to ride hard and, on the first climb of the final circuit, try to make a difference. And so we did. Amanda and I pushed hard to make immediately a decent gap, then managed to increase it. She was pulling harder on the flat, I was pulling harder on the climbs. We made it to the finish line and were able to enjoy the moment as best we could.”
Reaction from Amanda Spratt:
“We knew we had to try something different today to take the win. Today’s one-two is really a team result, no other way to describe. I attacked from the bottom of the climb with Gaia on my wheel, that was the key moment, but without the work done before to select the peloton, maybe we would not have the same result. The rest, was an exciting breakaway until the finish line. We managed everything very well since the start, as we wanted. Broadie in particular has been amazing stopping al the dangers after our attack. It was a perfect teamwork.
“For me, it was great to help Gaia win today. She’s such a strong climber, a promising talent; she showed her commitment to the team already in UAE Tour and Setmana Valenciana and today she was one of the strongest riders in the peloton. She deserved this opportunity in her home country and it was really nice for me to see her win.”
