Aleksandr Vlasov wins Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge

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Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) took the biggest win of his career with victory at the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge after holding off a late chase from Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo). Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) finished third to complete the podium.

As expected the race came down to a frantic battle on the slopes of Mont Ventoux with several major attacks taking place before Vlasov made his move. The 24-year-old, who enjoying an incredible run of form attacked with 4.5km remaining and quickly caught and dropped Martin. The Astana rider’s acceleration sparked a reaction from both Richie Porte and Nairo Quintana but the Colombian could offer little in the way of assistance as the finish approached.

Porte was able to drop his companion and then repeat the trick when he caught Martin with just over 2km to go but the Australian was unable to pull back any time on Vlasov. The Astana climber provided necessary cover when his teammate Miguel Angel Lopez was dropped on the lower slopes of the climb and carried on his form from La Route d’Occitaine, where he finished third overall.

Pierre Latour, who had instigated the attacking when he soloed off the front with 10km to go finished fourth, just ahead of Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates). Quintana was forced to settle for eighth, while last year’s winner Jesus Herrada took ninth.

"It's a very famous mountain, the mountain of champions so I'm very, very happy to win here,” Vlasov said at the finish.

“I'm happy with my performance and with the teamwork. We did a good job. I felt very good and I tried to attack. I'm very happy. Now I will go in Italy for the Classics. With my shape, I hope to get some good results in the Giro dell'Emilia or Il Lombardia, it's a very nice race. And I want to do my best."

How it unfolded

The action began with a group of eight riders including Carmelo Urbano Fontiveros (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ), Jose Gonçalves (Nippo Delko One Provence), Juan Felipe Osorio Arboleda (Burgos-BH), Alessandro Monaco (Bardiani-CSF), Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Marlon Gaillard (Total Direct Energie) and Robert Scott (Canyon dhb p/b Soreen) attacked in the early stages of the race. The event is only in its second season but drew an impressive start list with Astana, Trek-Segafredo and Cofidis all entering the race with high-quality line-ups.

At the summit of the first climb of Fontaube the leaders had 3:30 over the peloton but it wasn’t until the first climb to Chalet Reynard that the race began to truly break up. Bravo attacked from the break and dropped his companions as Astana and Trek-Segafredo set about controlling the chase.

The lone leader held only a minute’s advantage over the peloton as the final, long ascent approached and he was duly caught as the main field thinned down to less than 40 riders. Latour was the first heavyweight to attack with 10km to go and his acceleration was enough to see Lopez start to crack. The Frenchman was unable to build on a small advantage and it was Cofidis that moved to the front in order to set up Martin. His acceleration was vicious and split the remnants of the main field. The Cofidis leader quickly made contact with Latour, and although there was a valiant defence from the AG2R La Mondiale climber he was soon forced to ease his efforts as Martin pushed on with 6.4km to go.

Trek began to wind up the pace but their hard work only helped to set up Vlasov, who jumped away with 4.5km to go. He caught and dropped Martin in less than a kilometre and although Porte tried to reel in the Astana rider he gave himself too much to do in the closing stages.

Results