Pays de la Loire Tour: Bryan Coquard takes overall lead with stage 1 win

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Crash and protests muddle start of four-day stage race

SAINT-GILLES-CROIX-DE-VIE, FRANCE - APRIL 04: Bryan Coquard of France and Team Cofidis celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of Arnaud Démare of France and Team Groupama - FDJ during the 1st Region Pays de la Loire Tour 2023, Stage 1 a 150.9km stage from Saint-Père-en-Retz to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie on April 04, 2023 in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Bryan Coquard wins the opening stage of Pays de la Loire Tour (Image credit: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
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Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) won the opening stage of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour on Tuesday. EF Education-EasyPost’s Marijn van den Berg took second and Manuel Peñalver (Burgos-BH) finished third.

The sprint victory was Coquard’s second this year and marked the 50th career win for the Frenchman.

Pays de la Loire Tour is the successor of the Sarthe Pays de la Loire Cycling Circuit. The first of four days of racing had a rocky start from the start at Saint-Père-en-Retzas as protesters against pension reform in France lined a small section of the course 5km from the start and caused a short disruption in the proceedings. 

A group of three riders built a slight advantage with just under 100km to go in the 162km contest - Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies), Maël Guégan (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Johan Meens (Bingoal WB). The trio stayed intact for 70km as they hit the five local laps, which included the KOM points at Côte Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Guégan taking all eight points on the two passes.

The trio’s gap was down to under 30 seconds with 8km to ride, so Ferron accelerated to try alone at the front, which lasted for almost 5km. It was soon after the catch that 15 riders were involved in a crash, which left Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) out of contention for the sprint in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-vie.

Coquard will wear the first leader's jersey for stage 2, 169.4km from Clisson to Le Lion-d'Angers.

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Jackie Tyson
Jackie Tyson
North American Editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.

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