Anthony Perez (Cofidis) powered through a block headwind in a 40km solo breakaway to take the victory at the Faun Drôme Classic. Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) crossed the finish line in second place after winning the four-man chase-group sprint with Andrea Bagioli (Soudal-QuickStep) in third, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) in fourth and Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) fifth.
“I am very happy to have managed to stay away and to hold out until the end. I train a lot against the clock, so I had confidence in my strength management," Perez said.
"My directeur sportif supported me from the very first kilometre of the breakaway to the end. It was fantastic. I attacked at the foot of the Col de la Grande Limite to soften up the other riders. I was feeling great, and we were left with three. So I gave it my best shot. The challenge was to manage myself.
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"It was very cold today. With the wind, it was difficult. I understood that I was close to reaching the goal 1.5 kilometres from the finish. I had already done well in Bessèges and in the Var... This victory is the icing on the cake.”
Perez attacked over the Col de la Grande Limite, some 40km from the finish line, a long way out given the cold temperatures, strong winds and a series of climbs en route to Étoile-sur-Rhône.
He built his lead out to 1:30 as a chase group that initially included seven riders; Costa, Bagioli, Gaudu and Simmons, along with Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep), Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Permier Tech).
The chase group splintered apart over the penultimate climb as Bagioli attacked on the Mur d'Allex, bringing Gaudu, Costa and Simmons with him, while distancing Alaphilippe, Bardet and Strong 10km from the finish.
Perez held strong over the final Plateau de Soulier and crossed the finish line 1:11 ahead of his nearest chasers to take the day's victory.
How it unfolded
Faun Drôme Classic offered the second day of ProSeries one-day racing in France, after Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) won Faun-Ardèche Classic on Saturday.
The 191.5km race was held along two smaller circuits and one larger circuit around Étoile-sur-Rhône with a challenging route of eleven ascents beginning with multiple times over the Plateau de Soulier and Mur d'Allex followed by Col du Deves, Col de la Grande Limite, Côte des Roberts, Côte de Grâne, and then again over the Plateau de Soulier and Mur d'Allex before a 10k run-in to the finish.
A breakaway settled in over the first ascent with six riders: Cristián Rodríguez (Team Arkéa Samsic), Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies), Jacob Hindsgaul (Uno-X), Alexis Guerin (Bingoal WB), Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), and Nolan Mahoudo (CIC U Nantes Atlantique).
Arkea-Samsic pulling the peloton caused splits among the chasing field with roughly 100km to go. Doubey was the first rider dropped from the breakaway and swept up by the dwindling field, but the entire breakaway was swallowed up with 86km to go.
The field of roughly 35 riders included the previous day's winner Alaphilippe and runner-up David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and their compatriot Romain Bardet (Team DSM). Victor Koretzky (Bora-Hansgrohe) made a shortlived attack as Jayco-AlUla led the field.
Soudal-QuickStep moved forward, which led to Aaphilippe making a move over the Col de la Grande Limite with 41km to go, and he was followed by Rui Costa (Intermarche), and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) was the next to go.
As the splits in the peloton merged back together, Anthony Perez (Cofidis) made the winning attack of the day with 40km to go.
A chase group formed with seven riders: Alaphilippe and teammate Bagioli, Gaudu, Bardet, Costa, Strong and Simmons.
Perez pushed his lead out to 1:30 as the race hit the final set of ascents Mur d'Allex and Plateau de Soulier.
Bagioli attacked over the Mur d'Allex, bringing with him Gaudu, Costa and Simmons, distancing Alaphilippe Bardet and Strong 10km from the finish.
Perez held his lead at just over a minute as he crested the final climb of the day Plateau de Soulier. He raced down the descent and into an 8km of block headwind through the Rhône valley into Étoile-sur-Rhône to take the day's victory.
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