Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) won the first stage of the Route d’Occitanie in a bunch sprint after a nervy, crosswind-affected day in southern France.
“It’s always really nice to win. I think it was a tough day, especially because it was really warm and we rode really hard,” Van den Berg said after the finish. It is his second victory of the season, following his triumph at January’s Trofeo des Salines-Alcudia.
“Simon Carr is our leader this week so we will try to help him to get the best result possible,” he added. “It’s really nice that he’s from this area so he’s motivated as well.”
There was a threat of splits in the bunch on the blustery finale around Narbonne.
Breakaway members Théo Delacroix (St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93), Carlos García (Equipo Kern Pharma), Maxime Urrity (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Burgos-BH pair Eric Antonio Fagundez and Mario Aparicio were brought to heel 50 kilometres from the finish as the pace shot up in the peloton.
Groupama-FDJ and Ineos Grenadiers were to the fore. With winds gusting over 35 kph, nerves were high and no contender wanted to be caught out.
Léo Danès (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Célestin Guillon (Van Rysel-Roubaix Lille Métropole escaped with 25 kilometres to go before being brought to heel as the speed shot up before the seaside crosswind finale.
With seven kilometres left, 25 riders made the front split in the wind as EF Education-EasyPost forced the tempo.
On an anxious run-in, Bram Welten (Groupama-FDJ) and an Euskaltel-Euskadi rider crashed due to a touch of wheels in the front group.
In the final kilometre, Filippo Ganna roared to the front to give a lead-out for Viviani. However, the Italian opted to stay several wheels back and was boxed in as Van den Berg started the sprint.
He had to elbow his way past Sandy Dujardin on the barriers and it was too little, too late. Van den Berg held on, making sure of victory with a bike throw on the line.
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