Etoile de Bessèges: Wellens solos to victory on stage 3

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Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) soloed to victory on stage 3 of Étoile de Bessèges after he attacked from an elite break of 17 riders at the end of a breathless day of racing. The Belgian’s efforts were enough to give him a commanding lead in the overall standings ahead of the final weekend in Bessèges, while the stage was notable, too, for the aggression of Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), who played a key role in establishing the winning move with almost 100km to go.

Wellens forged his clear on a descent with a shade under 15 kilometres remaining after Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenaiders) had splintered the break with a determined acceleration on the day’s final climb. The Pole overshot a bend on the descent that followed, an incident seemingly caused by oil on the road, but Wellens was already in front by that point, and by the base of the descent, he had opened a decisive gap over his erstwhile companions.

The Belgian was helped by the presence of Lotto Soudal teammates Philippe Gilbert and Stefano Oldani, who were able to police the chase on his behalf on the finishing circuit. Wellens already had a buffer of 23 seconds when he crossed the finish line for the first time with 7km to go and he would stretch that advantage out to 37 seconds by day’s end.

Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) won the sprint for second place ahead of Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel Start-Up Nation), while Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) claimed fourth place ahead of Gilbert. Kwiatowski, who had managed to avoid falling, was also part of the chasing group, where he was aided by Bernal, but he had to settle for 10th place.

Wellens picked up 13 seconds in time bonuses during the stage and he carries an overall lead of 44 seconds over Theuns into the final weekend, with Schmidt a further two seconds back in third. Kwiatkowski is now fourth overall at 48 seconds. Overnight leader Christophe Laporte (Cofidis) lost his hopes of repeating his 2019 overall victory after finishing in the main peloton, almost two minutes down on Wellens.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” Wellens told L’Équipe TV afterwards. “We saw the start was hilly and with technical descents, so we knew it would be hard. It took a long time for the right break to form, but it was full of good riders and we knew it had a chance to go the distance. In the finale, I attacked on the descent and then did a time trial to the finish.”

Wellens confirmed that the descent was slick with oil – “I was lucky not to fall,” he said – and he acknowledged that he is now in the box seat to claim final overall victory at Étoile de Bessèges, with the flat stage to Saint-Siffret and Sunday’s 11km time trial in Alès still to come.

“I think it will be difficult to gain more time tomorrow, so I’ll try to keep this gap for the time trial. If I have good legs in the time trial, it would be hard to lose a lead like this, but we’ll have to see. Tomorrow, I hope we can control things and that there isn’t too much chaos.”

How it unfolded

The words of Cofidis directeur sportif Alain Deloeuil summed the situation up neatly. “This is really WorldTour level, it’s very difficult,” he said. Deloeuil was sitting in the team car behind the race when he fielded the telephone call from LÉquipe TV. Forty kilometres remained and his Cofidis charges were fully committed to the chase at the front of the peloton, but they were making no inroads into the two-minute lead of a breakaway that was being powered by a former Tour de France winner, two past world champions and the reigning Olympic champion. The 2021 Étoile de Bessèges is a 2.1 race in name only.

The usual volley of early attacks failed to establish a breakaway, and instead the race hurtled along at a blistering pace all day long, despite the rolling terrain. The peloton broke into shards at several points in the first hour, with Van Avermaet, Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Bernal part of a seven-man move that briefly bludgeoned its way clear ahead of the first climb, the Col de Portes.

The intensity didn’t relent on the climb, where Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-Citroën) led Wellens and Bernal over the top, while the peloton was shorn in two. Fifty or so riders remained in the front group over the other side, but Bernal remained eager to whittle it down still further.

On the following Col des Brousses, he was again on the offensive, this time with Alexys Brunel (Groupama-FDJ). They were caught by an elite group nearer the summit, where Kwiatkowski claimed the mountains points ahead of Rigoberto Uràn (EF Education-Nippo).

The winnowing process would be completed after the climb, when the decisive group of 17 riders took shape with all of 94km to go. Bernal, inevitably, was involved in its formation, and he was joined by Kwiatkowski and the Lotto Soudal trio of Wellens, Gilbert and Oldani, as well as Jake Stewart, Lars van den Berg (Groupama-FDJ), Clément Carisey (Delko One Provence), Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën Team), Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), Michael Gogl (Qhubeka Assos), Bryan Coquard, Cyril Barthe (B&B Hôtels p/b KTM), Schmidt Würtz (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Marti Marquez Roman (Equipo Kern Pharma).

That group collaborated smoothly thereafter, and their combined firepower meant that the five Cofidis riders delegated to chase on behalf of Laporte were able to do little other than keep their lead tabbed at around the two-minute mark. EF Education-Nippo and Total-Direct Energie provided reinforcements later in the afternoon and helped to shave some seconds off the deficit, but long before Kwiatkowski launched his probing move on the final, unclassified climb, it was already apparent that the 17 riders out in front would contest the spoils.

Like Kwiatkowski, Coquard was a faller on the slippery descent, but out in front, Wellens didn’t put a pedal stroke out of place to claim the stage and the overall lead.