Étoile de Bessèges: Ludvigsson takes victory on stage 5

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Tobias Ludvigsson capped off an excellent weekend for the Giant-Shimano team, as he claimed victory in the final stage Étoile de Bessèges.

A day after his team-mate Marcel Kittel won his third stage and the sprint classification at the Dubai Tour, Ludvigsson won the closing time trial of the French race, with a winning time of 15’37”. The result was enough to earn him the first overall victory of his career.

Defending champion, Jérôme Coppel (Cofidis) put in a valiant effort to retain his title, but couldn’t quite manage it. He had the fastest time for around 10 minutes, before the Giant-Shimano rider slipped in and took victory. Ahead of the time trial, the Frenchman was equal on time to Ludvigsson, but lost four seconds and had to settle for second place yet again.

Ludvigsson’s teammate John Degenkolb ensured that there were two Giant-Shimano riders on the podium, finishing a further second behind Coppel in the general classification. While Degenkolb failed to take his first win of the year, it was his consistency that helped him make the podium and take home the points classification.

The final time trial was short at only 10.7km, but it had a sting in the tail in the form of the Site de l'Ermitage. The last two kilometres of the decisive chrono were uphill, with ramps of up to 16%.

Justin Jules (La Pomme Marseille) kicked things off with a time of 17:09. He was soon surpassed by his team-mate Thomas Rostollan, who beat his time by 45 seconds. Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF) held the fastest time for more than an hour and as time ticked on it looked like he might take a surprise win. However, Coppel and Ludvigsson bumped him off the hot seat and the Italian finished the day in third, 11 seconds down.

Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), who started the day as the race leader, couldn’t conquer the climb. The Belgian rider had kept his leader’s jersey safe since winning the opening stage, but he lost over a minute to Ludvigsson and fell to tenth in the general classification.

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