Tour de la Provence stage 1 – Live race coverage

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All the action from day 1 in the south of France

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Bonjour and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of the stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height in the blues skies of Provence, the riders are about to roll out of Aubagne.

The stage twists and turns through southern Provence today for a total of 182.3km.

The finish is on the mediterranean coast at Six-Fours-les-Plages. 

The riders enjoyed 6km of neutral riding before the flag dropped. But its Race on! 

As you can see from the stage profile, the racing starts with a climb.  Hence why a number of riders warmed-up on the rollers before the start.

And we have a first attack, with Lilian Calmejane (AG2R) and Delio Fernandez (Delko) up the road as the climb begins to hurt.  

The climb is far more than a warm-up. The Col d'Espigoulier is 10.4km long at an average of 5.3%. 

There is a star-studded start list for the race, with world champion Julian Alaphilippe making his season debut with Deceuninck-QuickStep. 

The peloton has let Calmejane (AG2R) and Fernandez Cruz (Delko) go away. 

As the riders near the top of the Col d'Espigoulier, the peloton does not seem concerned. The sprint teams are no doubt protecting their leaders and keeping a steady pace on the climbs so they can be as fresh as possible for the finish.  

It's a nice day for a bike ride in the south of France. It's 11C and the sun is out. 

Lilian Calmejane (AG2R) and Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko) have pushed out their lead to 4:30. 

The roads are exposed over the top of the climb, followed by a twisting descent to the valley.  

Calmejane was first over the top of the climb. He is known for his aggression and could make the sprint teams work hard today. 

14 WorldTour teams are riding the Tour de la Provence, with a high quality batch of sprinters, breakaway specialists and GC contenders all vying for success. 

Click below to read our picks for the riders to watch this week in Provence. 

Calmejane spoke before the start of the stage, hinting he would try something today. 

The Frenchman moved from Total Direct Energie to AG2R for the2021 season.

The sixth edition of the Tour de la Provence follows the format of last year's, won by Arkéa-Samsic’s Nairo Quintana. 

Stage 2 runs north from the coastal town of Cassis through Provence’s backcountry to reach Manosque. 

Stage 3 should decide the general classification. 

The race concludes on Sunday with another stage that should go the way of the sprinters. Much will depend, however, on the wind. 

Although 2020 Chalet Reynard and Provence GC winner Quintana isn’t defending his title, there’s plenty of climbing talent looking for success on this fabled peak, including the Colombian’s teammate Warren Barguil. Alexey Lutsenko was second here last year and his Astana teammate Aleksandr Vlasov was fourth, a place ahead of Eddie Dunbar, whose Ineos Grenadiers team also features 2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal and his Colombian compatriot Iván Sosa.

To read our full race preview, click below.

The riders are close to the intermediate sprint point in Sainte-Baume after a hard 40km of racing.

After this valley road, the riders will face the second climb of the day, out of Mazaugues. 

The red, white and blue jerseys of Groupama-FDJ are doing much of the work at the head of the peloton, which indicates they have confidence in Arnaud Démare fro the finish. 

There has been a lot of debate and controversy in recent days after the UCI announced the sports stakeholders had agreed to ban the super-tick and aero-tuck positions as a part of a number of improved safety measures. 

130km to go

Egan Bernal continues his start to the 2021 season in France on Thursday, leading a strong Ineos Grenadiers squad at the start of the Tour de la Provence.

In a busy morning of news, the route of the Vuelta a Espana has been unveiled, with a full-length final day time trial returning for the first time in nearly two decades.

120km to go

Lilian Calmejane (AG2R) and Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko) are swapping turns on the front to lead the break.

This grab from Groupama shows their riders on the front.  

Julian Alaphilippe moves up the peloton with some teammates. He looks lean and stylish in the world champion's rainbow jersey.

110km to go

-100km

Lilian Calmejane (AG2R) and Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko) are continuing to collaborate well but Groupama-FDJ have shaved 40 seconds or so off their advantage.

-92km

Despite the spate of cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tour de la Provence is not the only race taking place in Europe this week. On Sunday, Mark Cavendish will make his competitive return for Deceuninck-QuickStep at the Clasica Almeria. "Like every rider in these times I am excited to get the season underway. We are fortunate that the races can go ahead and I’m even more excited to pull on the jersey of the Wolfpack once again and race with the boys," said Cavendish, who won the race during his first stint at QuickStep.  

-84km

80km to go

The riders are cutting between the vineyards. The pace has increased on the narrow country roads and because the Montée du Brulat climb is nearing.

The B&B Hotels team is leading the chase, helping Groupama, on behalf of Bryan Coquard.

Groupama have four riders up near the front, with Demare tucked on their wheel. 

Remi Cavagni of Deceuninck has attacked from the peloton! 

He is considered a threat for the finale and so B&B Hotels are chasing him.

Cavagni's attack has closed down the gap to the break he rides past them. However the peloton is closing the gap. 

Deceuninck are clearly trying to make it a hard day out for the sprinters.

All the teams will be aware that the stiff wind could also cause some problems later.

Cavagni is caught but now Kasper Asgreen surges away.

Mauri Vansevenant kicks too but an AG2R rider reaches the summit first. 

Gianni Moscon has jumped across to Ciccone. And now here comes Alaphilippe.

There are some splits in the peloton.

The attack is pushing into a headwind and that is making it harder out front.

The peloton has been shaken out on the climb but Arkea bring back Bouhanni. 

The trio have pushed out their lead to 35 seconds.

From the CN blimp we can see Groupama riding to bring Demare back up to the peloton.

Ciccone, Moscon and Alaphilippe are taking turns on the front and touching 60km/h when the road descends.  

They swing right and descend towards Cuges-les-Pins. From their the road climbs again, back to where they came from, near the Castellet motor racing circuit.

There are 3-2-1 seconds up fro grabs at the intermediate sprint and then 8-5-2 at the top of the final climb.

50km to go

Alaphilippe was unsure of his form after suffering with his hand problems caused by last year's crash at the October Tour of Flanders. However he seems keen to show off his rainbow jersey. 

The gap passes a minute and so the team cars are allowed to go up tp them. 

The gradient of the climb has eased slightly but Ciccone, Moscon and Alaphilippe are still working smoothly and lead by 1:20 now. 

Behind Bahrain, Lotto and Arkea are leading the chase but the gap is still at 1:20.

Bahrain are riding for Bauhaus no doubt.

Ciccone, Moscon and Alaphilippe are on the second lap in land. They dive down to Cuges-les-Pins again and then climb back up once more, before the descent to the coast. 

35km to go

Moscon speaks to the Frenchman, perhaps asking him to keep working hard.

The gap is falling slightly and is down to 1:00 but the climb up to Le Camp will soon begin, favouring the attackers, if they have the legs to keep going hard and hold off the sprinters' teams.  

UAE are also helping with the work, they have Matteo Trentin and alexander Kristoff for any eventual sprint finish.

The gap is down to 40 seconds, the trio seem to have ran out of gas. 

Alaphilippe, Moscon and Ciccone are all grimacing due to their big effort. 

In the peloton the other teams are forming behind the head of the peloton. 

There's a sprint to the top of the climb to take the super sprint bonus seconds.

Alaphilippe was first to the sprint and so took eight seconds. That gives him a total of 11 seconds and so if he finishes in the bunch, he will take the race lead. 

Ciccone was second and so picked up 5 seconds, Moscon took 2 seconds.

19km to go

The race is blasting towards the finish on the coast now.

The Groupama team are carefully moving up as the roads heads to the more exposed coast. 

UAE and Lotto are also up front thinking of their sprinters.

8km to go

A roundabout splits the peloton but the speed is high. 

5km to go

The road is fast and twisting, going from one to two lanes. 

3km to go. 

But Alaphilippe attacks! Moscon goes onto him. 

But a riders has also attacked from the peloton.

2km to go

The road is rolling, making it hard for the sprint teams.

Gruppo compatto. 

No one team leading out the sprint. 

There's a strong wind blowing from the riders' right.

Demare moves up. 

Demare opens a gap.  

Demare opened a gap but went too soon.  

Deceuninck were on his wheel.  

Demare went the right way in a confused finish but he was beaten by Ballerini in the final metres. 

That was a thrilling finale after a thrilling stage.

There is some confusion about the first race leader. 

The provisional results show that Ballerini is the first race leader.  

Ballerini took a ten-second time bonus for winning the stage, which betters any intermediate time bonuses.

This is the top ten stage result:

Matt Walls (Bora-Hansgrohe) was an impressive fourth after trying to go after Demare when he kicked. 

The 22-year-old British rider was a stagiare with EF in 2019 but signed with Bora for 2021. He is a superb track rider.

Demare's face says it all. 

Ballerini is on stages and shows off the first leader's Mondrian-inspired jersey.

Julian Alaphilippe was thought to be the race leader for a while but climbs on the podium anyway, as the most combatif rider of the stage for being part of the attack with Ciccone and Moscon.

Walls is also on the podium as best young rider. He will wear the green jersey tomorrow. 

Davide Ballerini was surprised to win but explained how he got the better of Demare. 

He explained Deceuninck's aggressive tactics. 

Ballerini ruled out going for overall victory

This is the General classification after stage 1:

That was Ballerini's fifth career victory.  He's fast in a sprint but is more of a Classics rider. He won a stage at the 2020 Tour de Pologne in his first year with Deceuninck and has also won the Memorial Marco Pantani race in Italy while riding for Androni.  

We have some great shots of the finish. This one shows how Demare went too early and Ballerini came off his wheel late to win. 

This is Arnaud Demare as he understands he's been beaten.

This is the moment, late in the sprint, when Ballerini comes off Demare's wheel. 

To see our growing photo gallery, full. stage report and results, click below.

Friday's stage 2 runs north from the coastal town of Cassis through Provence’s backcountry to reach Manosque. It is another day of rolling roads over 174.6km, with a rising finish but could still suit some of the sprinters. 

Thanks for following our live coverage, join us tomorrow for full coverage of stage 2 of the Tour de la Provence.

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