Etoile de Bessèges: Laporte wins stage 1

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Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) triumphed on the uphill finish in Bellegarde as stage racing returned to Europe with the opening stage of the Étoile de Bessèges on Wednesday afternoon.

The Frenchman takes the opening leader's jersey of the five-day race after beating Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) in a two-man showdown on the Côte de la Tour. The French pair were the class of the field in the tough finale, surging away in the closing 500 metres to distance the rest of the peloton, with Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) taking third place, two seconds back.

Bouhanni had leapt from the peloton as the road headed up towards the finish line on the 143-kilometre stage, but he soon found Laporte on his wheel and had no answer to his compatriot's counter-move up the inside on the closing stretch.

The Arkéa-Samsic sprinter looked in one moment to have a second wind, but as the road flattened out in sight of the line, Laporte had enough to hold on and secure the 18th victory of his career.

Laporte now leads the race by four seconds ahead of Bouhanni, while Pedersen lies in third, eight seconds down. Qhubeka Assos sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo is fourth at 12 seconds.

How it unfolded

The 143-kilometre opener circled the town of Bellegarde, south of Nîmes, close to the Mediterranean coast. Just one classified climb came along the largely flat route – the 600-metre, 6.3 per cent Côte de la Tour, which lay 41 kilometres from the line and served as a preview for the uphill finish.

It was unsurprising that riders were keen to get going and kick off their seasons as the race kicked off just after 1pm local time. Three riders – Loius Louvet (St Michel-Auber 93), Alexandre Delettre (Delko) and Tom Paquot (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) – were the main attackers early on.

The trio, no threat for a stage win or overall bid, were let go by the peloton and quickly built up a three-minute lead up front. The gap only grew as the two Frenchman and the Walloon traversed the flatlands around the Rhône river, eventually hitting the seven-minute mark with 100 kilometres to run.

Back in the peloton, AG2R Citroën led the way, showing off their new-look jerseys at the front as they worked for sprinter Marc Sarreau. Qhubeka Assos, also sporting a new name and look for 2021, also worked on behalf of Giacomo Nizzolo, while Bora-Hansgrohe put in the hard yards for Pascal Ackermann.

All that work only served to eat away at the break's advantage, with their lead slipping away minute after minute until just 2:40 remained. The trio did survive past the KOM point, however, with Delettre leading the way just a minute ahead of the peloton.

With AG2R Citroën and Qhubeka Assos still working on the front, Lotto Soudal (for John Degenkolb) and Cofidis (for Laporte) also maintained a presence up front, as the peloton zipped along the flat roads back to the finish on the Côte de la Tour.

After a tenacious effort to last out front, the battling breakaway trio were finally caught 10 kilometres from the line, leaving the final run-in for the sprint teams to fight among themselves.

Following the catch, Qhubeka Assos and Total Direct Énergie took control of proceedings, setting a high pace to deter any brave attacks in the finale. Ineos Grenadiers also maintained a presence as they sought to keep their star-studded lineup safe in the finale. It was a smart move, too, as a crash took out a swathe of riders in the middle of the peloton at the 6-kilometre mark.

Ineos' Egan Bernal was held up, though not involved, while EF Education-Nippo's Alberto Bettiol and Bora-Hansgrohe leader Felix Großschartner were also caught out. Up front, the race was on, though, and teams continued to battle for the prime places in the wind.

Cofidis led the way into the final kilometre, though a mix of teams were up front to start the climb. Bouhanni was the first man to make a move on the short ascent, at first stealing a march on the charging peloton, before Laporte distanced himself from the fray and moved across to his wheel.

Coming around the final bend, Bouhanni looked to slow and move across the road, leaving Laporte the perfect opportunity to grasp the mantle. The 28-year-old stole up the inside with a swift switch of pace, distancing Bouhanni by a good two bike lengths and leaving his rival little chance to come back.

Bouhanni tried, but the 70th win of his career eluded him, with Laporte taking the spoils – the first step on the way to repeating his 2019 overall win, perhaps?