Andriy Grivko celebrates his overall victory with his Astana teammates(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Romain Bardet topped the mountains classification(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tour Mediterranean pass along the seafront(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Arnaud Demare in yellow after the stage 2 at La Méditerranéenne
The 2017 edition of La Méditerranéenne has been canceled due to a lack of availability of police motorcycle escorts, according to Direct Velo. The French race was originally scheduled to run from February 8-12, 2017, but the first two days were removed late last year for similar reasons.
The race was created from the ashes of the Tour Méditerranéen, which last ran in 2014. La Méditerranéenne was four stages long in 2016, and included a team time trial, which was won by FDJ, and three road stages. The overall GC was won by Andriy Grivko (Astana), who escaped on the penultimate stage and soloed to the win.
The absence of La Méditerranéenne further widens the hole in the racing schedule in February that opened up after Tour of Qatar was canceled.
After the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise (Jan 29) and Etoile de Bessèges (Feb 1-5), the next race in France will be the Tour du Haut Var (Feb 18-19). There are no stage races in the same time slot, but there are several one-day races including the Vuelta Murcia and Clasica Almeria in Spain, and the Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy. The Tour of Oman begins on February 14.
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