Tour de la Provence: Elia Viviani wins stage 1
Ganna keeps race lead on sprint stage
Elia Viviani won stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence to Les-Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer in the Camargue region of the south of France after crosswinds sparked echelons and a major shake-out amongst the overall contenders.
Twenty-seven riders eventually emerged in a multi-team attack from Ineos Grenadiers, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Akrea-Samsic with 80km to race. They used the strong wind to spit out other riders and opened a gap that the peloton was unable to close.
Maciej Bodnar (TotalEnergies) made a solo attack in the final eight kilometres but Filippo Ganna closed him down and then Luke Rowe set-up Viviani for the tailwind sprint.
Viviani kicked away to victory out of the final corner, with Sep Vanmarke (Israel-Premier Tech) only able to follow him over the line, with Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) taking third after an aggressive ride by the world champion.
Alaphilippe picked up some bonus seconds during the stage but Ganna kept the race lead after dominating Thursday’s prologue time trial. He leads Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) by four seconds, with Samuele Battistella (Astana) third at 10 seconds.
Viviani has endured two lean years at Cofidis due to injury, a lack of an experienced lead-out and low morale but he appears back to his best and finished off some superb work by his teammates Richard Carapaz, Filippo Ganna and then Rowe.
“I’m happy to win again but it’s not so much about the new team. I ended last season with Cofidis really well and that’s important to approach the new season. Of course, I’m really happy to be back at Ineos. It’s really important for a sprinter to win at the start of the season,” Viviani explained.
“We knew I had good form at Valenciana, I was 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so the big goal in Provence was to win the first race of the season. Now it’s done, so now we keep going.
“It was not an easy, flat stage because of the wind. We moved really well and we have really experienced guys for the Classics like Luke Rowe, so when we saw that there were four up front, including Richie (Carapaz) for the GC, that was good. Then we just kept pushing. We were happy that there weren’t any other sprinters. The guys did an amazing job. Ganna closed down Bodnar when he attacked in the final kilometres and then Luke Rowe did a perfect lead-out for me. I have to thank all the team today."
How it unfolded
With the wind blowing across the south of France before the start, the riders and their directeur sportif knew the 152km stage from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer was going to be far more than a day for the sprinters.
After an early flurry of attacks, Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) forced their way clear of the peloton. They were joined by Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93) after a chase to create the break of the day.
They went over the early climb and rode to the spectacular Roman city of Arles together but the wind was increasing as they neared the exposed salt marshes of the Camargue.
With 80km to go the rider knew it was the moment to attack. Ineos Grenadiers and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl suddenly occupied the front positions, sparking panic behind them as riders fought for shelter and piece of the road. However, there was only enough room for 30 or so riders, with a crash sparking a split and opening the gap.
TotalEnergies and Arkea-Samsic were there in numbers too protecting the overall hopes of Latour and Nairo Quintana, but Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) were amongst those who missed the split.
With the likes of Bodnar, Rowe and Ganna driving, the gap soon opened to a minute as Groupama-FDJ tried to save face and chase.
A few riders were spat out from the front group and 27 went clear ready for the showdown on the circuits of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the salt marshes.
The 27 were: Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke (QuickStep-AlpaVinyl), Elia Viviani, Filippo Ganna, Richard Carapaz, Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Trek-Segafredo), Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Maciej Bodnar, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Martijn Tusveld (DSM), Sep Vanmarcke, Tom Van Asbroeck, Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel Premier Tech), Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur).
A notable absentee from this front group was 2021 winner Ivan Sosa (Movistar), while his teammate Gorka Izagirre abandoned after crashing in the chaos. Groupama-FDJ committed to the chase but couldn't stop the gap rising to 1:30 as the wind turned into a tailwind and blew the race along the road at over 50km/h.
The rider reached Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for the first time with 47km to race, with Alaphilippe winning the intermediate sprint to grab three extra seconds.
Aurelien Paret-Peintre was second in that intermediate sprint, with Louis Vervaeke third across the line, the riders knowing every second might count before Sunday’s mountain finish atop the Montagne de Lure.
Groupama-FDJ finally convinced Cofidis to help them with the chase but it was far too late and the French teams were left to embarrassingly argue about who was at fault.
Upfront the race was about the stage victory and the overall contenders limiting any time losses. Quintana had impressed the echelon and looked strong to the finish.
There were some exposed sections on the circuits but not enough and not in the right direction to split the group. Alaphilippe beat Latour to win the second intermediate sprint as Viviani studied the finish for the next to the line.
Strangely nobody tried to attack until eight kilometres to go when Bodnar made his move. He is a talented, power time trialist and surged away, as Latour let a gap and shouted at him to go for it. Carapaz tried to close him down but was outpowered by the exposed wind and suddenly a sprint seemed unlikely. Even Alaphilippe tried to go across to Bodnar, forcing the intervention of Ganna.
The Italian race leader was perhaps hoping to save himself to set up Viviani in the sprint but he began to do long turns on the front to bring the race back together. He managed to even drop Carapaz and the resort of the attack and he time trialled after Bodnar but eased up and closed the gap anyway before keeping the speed high into the final kilometre. It was an impressive show of power and prowess from the track and time trial champion and will be fascinating to see how he performs at Milan-San Remo and the cobbled Classics.
As the rider entered Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Rowe stepped up to play his part. He jumped on Latour’s late surge to give Viviani a perfect lead out to the final corner. The Italian then tucked low and fast and sprinted away from his rivals to give Ineos Grenadiers their second consecutive stage win.
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 3:17:58 |
2 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
3 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | |
4 | Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM | |
5 | Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
6 | Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
7 | Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
8 | Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
9 | Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team | |
10 | Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | |
11 | Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | |
12 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic | |
13 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic | |
14 | Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | |
15 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | |
16 | Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
17 | Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 0:00:03 |
18 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | |
19 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
20 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic | 0:00:07 |
21 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:16 |
22 | Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:00:30 |
23 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies | 0:00:34 |
24 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:02:28 |
25 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
26 | Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
27 | Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
28 | Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:09:34 |
29 | Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal | |
30 | Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
31 | Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
32 | Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
33 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
34 | Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
35 | Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
36 | Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
37 | Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
38 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
39 | Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM | |
40 | Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
41 | Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
42 | Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
43 | Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
44 | Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic | |
45 | José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | |
46 | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
47 | Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
48 | Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
49 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
50 | Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
51 | Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
52 | Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
53 | Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
54 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
55 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
56 | Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM | |
57 | Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies | |
58 | Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis | |
59 | Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis | |
60 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ | |
61 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
62 | Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
63 | Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ | |
64 | Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic | |
65 | Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
66 | Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team | |
67 | Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team | |
68 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo | |
69 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | |
70 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
71 | Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
72 | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal | |
73 | Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | |
74 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | |
75 | Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis | |
76 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis | |
77 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 0:09:40 |
78 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
79 | Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM | |
80 | Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:11:25 |
81 | Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis | |
82 | Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
83 | Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
84 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-Up Nation | |
85 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
86 | Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
87 | Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
88 | Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
89 | Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team | |
90 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
91 | Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | |
92 | Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
93 | Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
94 | Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM | |
95 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic | |
96 | Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
97 | Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
98 | Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
99 | Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team | |
100 | Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis | |
101 | Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
102 | Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ | |
103 | Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | |
DNF | Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-Up Nation |
Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 3:26:05 |
2 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 0:00:04 |
3 | Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:00:10 |
4 | Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:00:12 |
5 | Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 0:00:17 |
6 | Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo | 0:00:21 |
7 | Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team | |
8 | Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | |
9 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:00:22 |
10 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic | 0:00:23 |
11 | Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | 0:00:26 |
12 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic | 0:00:28 |
13 | Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:32 |
14 | Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
15 | Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | 0:00:34 |
16 | Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM | 0:00:35 |
17 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:40 |
18 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies | 0:00:48 |
19 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:00:51 |
20 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic | 0:00:56 |
21 | Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:01:11 |
22 | Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:01:17 |
23 | Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:01:20 |
24 | Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:02:56 |
25 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | 0:03:19 |
26 | Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | 0:03:22 |
27 | Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:03:54 |
28 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ | 0:09:44 |
29 | Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team | 0:09:50 |
30 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | |
31 | Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM | 0:09:51 |
32 | Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | 0:09:53 |
33 | Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team | 0:09:55 |
34 | Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
35 | Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:09:56 |
36 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
37 | Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ | 0:09:57 |
38 | Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
39 | Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal | |
40 | Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo | |
41 | Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | |
42 | Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
43 | Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:09:58 |
44 | Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM | 0:09:59 |
45 | Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | |
46 | Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
47 | Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:10:00 |
48 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo | 0:10:02 |
49 | Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM | 0:10:06 |
50 | Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:10:07 |
51 | Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis | |
52 | Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:10:08 |
53 | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | 0:10:10 |
54 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:10:11 |
55 | Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis | |
56 | Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:10:12 |
57 | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers | |
58 | Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis | 0:10:13 |
59 | Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis | |
60 | Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM | |
61 | Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:10:14 |
62 | Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team | |
63 | Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies | 0:10:15 |
64 | Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | 0:10:17 |
65 | José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:10:19 |
66 | Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:10:20 |
67 | Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo | |
68 | Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | 0:10:22 |
69 | Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | 0:10:23 |
70 | Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic | 0:10:24 |
71 | Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | 0:10:25 |
72 | Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:10:26 |
73 | Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM | 0:10:27 |
74 | Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:10:28 |
75 | Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal | 0:10:30 |
76 | Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:10:31 |
77 | Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal | 0:10:33 |
78 | Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 | 0:10:42 |
79 | Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic | 0:10:44 |
80 | Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:11:34 |
81 | Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 0:11:49 |
82 | Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team | |
83 | Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis | 0:11:54 |
84 | Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team | |
85 | Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:11:56 |
86 | Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ | 0:11:57 |
87 | Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team | 0:11:59 |
88 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic | |
89 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-Up Nation | 0:12:05 |
90 | Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:12:06 |
91 | Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM | 0:12:07 |
92 | Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:12:10 |
93 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | |
94 | Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | 0:12:15 |
95 | Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:12:17 |
96 | Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis | 0:12:23 |
97 | Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team | 0:12:26 |
98 | Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole | |
99 | Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 0:12:28 |
100 | Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | |
101 | Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:12:30 |
102 | Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM | |
103 | Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d'Azur | 0:12:50 |
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
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