Juan Ayuso wins four-up sprint to secure victory at Faun-Ardèche Classic

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Romain Grégoire settles for second, Mattias Skjelmose third and Felix Gall fourth

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GUILHERANDGRANGES FRANCE FEBRUARY 24 LR Juan Ayuso of Spain and UAE Team Emirates celebrates at finish line as race winner ahead of Romain Gregoire of France and Team Groupama FDJ during the 4th FaunArdche Classic 2024 a 1659km one day race from GuilherandGranges to GuilherandGranges on February 24 2024 in GuilherandGranges France Photo by Billy CeustersGetty Images
Juan Ayuso celebrates at finish line as race winner ahead of Romain Gregoire during the 4th Faun-Ardeche Classic 2024(Image credit: Getty Images)

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) won the four-man sprint to the line to take the victory at the Faun-Ardèche Classic on Saturday. 

Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) was the first to launch his sprint, but Ayuso passed him at the finish line to take the win. Grégoire hung on for second while Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) was third and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) fourth.

The Faun-Ardèche Classic was 168.6km starting at Guilherand-Granges with several large circuits and the finish back at Guilherand-Granges. The challenging route that included eight categorised ascents.

An early breakaway included Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), Melvin Crommelinck (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur), and Antoine Hue (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), who held a two-minute lead at the halfway point of the race.

The breakaway split apart with 57km to go as Hue was distanced from the leaders, and Dversnes and Crommelinck tried desperately to maintain a slim lead that had been slashed to just 10 seconds after the late-race Val d'Enfer ascent.

Over the ascent of the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps (6.3km at 7.6%), a new breakaway emerged that included Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team).

The quartet gained over a minute on the chasing field into the final 7km and with one last climb over the short but steep Val d'Enfer (1.5km at 10.6%).

Gall struggled to stay with the leaders over the last ascent but caught back on along the descent and run-in to the finish, the four riders still holding a lead of about a minute.

As the quartet raced onto the final stretch, the field had slashed the gap to just seconds, but it was enough for the four riders to sprint for the win with Ayuso taking the victory.

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