Valentin Ferron wins GP La Marseillaise in photo finish after thrilling finale

Race officials awarded Valentin Ferron (Cofidis) the victory ahead of Vincent Van Hemelen (Flanders-Baloise) after reviewing a photo finish of the final uphill sprint at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise on Sunday.

After catching a four-rider breakaway with 500 metres to go, Van Hemelen led the peloton up the steeper slopes of the short final ascent and into the final sprint.

It appeared as though he would take the victory until a faster Ferron sprinted from further back and raced up alongside Van Hemelen, throwing his bike over the line to take the victory by a whisker.

Francisco Galván (Equipo Kern Pharma) finished third place on the day.

"This win feels good; it's the perfect start to my season. Last year, it was complicated for me in terms of results. Now I'm leaving with a lot of confidence, and it's going to be good for my morale," Ferron said.

"I knew there was a bend with 200 metres to go, so I started a little early, but I managed to take the suction from a rider and find the energy in the last 50 metres to win. 

"I'd like to thank the team: they were [consistent] throughout the race. We were always well placed in the peloton and in the finish. It's a great collective victory." 

How it unfolded

The 46th Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise offered the peloton a 1.1-level, 164.2km race from Marseille at l'Estaque back to Marseille in Luminy.

A hilly route, there were three main ascents: Pas de la Couelle, Col de l'Espigoulier and Route des Crêtes, roughly 20 kilometres from the short uphill finish line.

A breakaway of four riders included Rayan Boulahoite (TotalEnergies), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Michiel Lambrecht (Wagner Bazin WB) and Kenny Molly (Van Rysel Roubaix).

The quartet pushed their lead out to over a minute on a trio of chasers that included Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ), Oscar Chamberlain (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Morné Van Niekerk (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93).

French teams Arkea-B&B Hotels and Groupama-FDJ led the peloton at 1:53 back with 60km to go.

With the chase group reeled back into the peloton with 45km remaining, the four-rider breakaway continued to push on at 1:40 out front. But, their efforts also ended on the Route des Crêtes, and the race reset in the final 20km.

A new breakaway emerged after the Route des Crêtes, and on the lower slopes of the final climb that included Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), teammates Axel Laurance and Joshua Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), and Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

The five riders had nearly a minute with just 15 kilometres remaining in the race. Groupama-FDJ pulled the peloton behind in a desperate chase to shut the gap down ahead of the final sweeping ascent and then descent before the rise into Marseille in Luminy.

Vauquelin bombed the descent and opened a gap on his breakaway rivals, but Laurance managed to bridge across, and the pair held a slim four seconds over Seixas and Kielich. All four were back together in the final kilometre.

There was no time to play poker as the peloton was 20 seconds behind. But on the rise to the finish line, the peloton made the catch, ending the breakaway with just 500 metres to go.

Team Flanders-Baloise led the field into the final sprint and up the steep hill to the line, but as Van Hemelen sprinted for the finish line, he was narrowly passed by a faster Ferron.

Results

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