Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) scored the seventh victory of his career with a late burst on stage 1 of the Boucles de la Mayenne.
The Frenchman attacked with just over 1km to go on the rolling 166km stage from Saint-Berthevin to Juvigné to catch the fastmen out and solo to the win, three seconds ahead of anyone else.
Behind him, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) sped to second place ahead of Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) in the bunch sprint. Jelte Krijnsen (Jayco-AlUla) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Q36.5) filled out the top five.
The stage, coming after Thursday's prologue won by Groupama-FDJ youngster Thibaud Gruel, was expected to deliver a sprint finish despite the lumpy circuit which concluded the day.
The 1.6km, 3.7% Côte du Pas de Pierre wouldn't deter the fast finishers, with a group of over 70 making the finish to duke it out for the win once the breakaway – Clément Izquierdo (Cofidis), Lenaic Langella (CIC-U-Nantes), Célestin Guillon, Kenny Molly (Van Rysel-Roubaix) – was caught 11km out.
Attacks flew later on, with Clément Venturini (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Anton Charmig (XDS-Astana), and, lastly, Joris Chaussinand (CIC-U-Nantes), among those attempting to get away. Once the latter was brought back, it was Latour's time to shine.
Florian Sénéchal (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) launched first, followed by the 31-year-old Latour. He immediately opened a gap to the rest of the hopefuls, one which he held during the final kilometre and converted into the stage win.
Prologue winner Gruel continues in the race lead following stage 1. He holds a three-second lead over Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), while Cosnefroy's teammate Paul Lapeira lies in third overall at six seconds.
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