Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling) notched up his first win of the 2024 season, out-sprinting Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) and Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) at the end of the 159.9 stage from Segré-en-Anjou Bleu to Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne.
A five-rider breakaway formed in the first hour Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility), Hugo Aznar (Kern Pharma), Leo Danês(CIC U Nantes Atlantique), Damien Girard (Nice Metropole Côte d’Azur), Romain Cardis (St Michel-Mavic-Auber ‘93)
After Aznar threw in the towel in the final hour, the remainder of the breakaway was brought back with 17 kilometres to go.
More attacks followed by Arkéa-B&B Hotels were intent on bringing the stage down to a sprint. Attacks by Rodrigo Álvarez (Burgos BH) and then Sam Watson (Groupama-FDJ) were quickly neutralised.
Ben Healy delivered a powerful lead-out for his EF Education-EasyPost teammate heading into the final kilometre with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) on the wheel but Dainese came around the outside and denied them both, with Bennett snatching third place with a bike throw.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
-
'We have to do something about the motorbikes influencing the racing' – An investigation into the dark art of using moto slipstreams in bike races
Is utilising TV motorbike slipstreams just 'part of the game', influencing races unfairly, or downright cheating? What are the ways to stop it? We investigate -
VeloToze knitted waterproof glove review - Wet weather gloves used by the pros
These knitted waterproof gloves from VeloToze are used by none other than Pogačar himself. -
Fast men, but who was the fastest? Ranking the top men's sprinters of the 2025 season
Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan face off once again at the top of our season ranking -
Victor Lafay reconsiders early retirement and signs with Unibet Rose Rockets in boost to team's Tour de France ambitions
'My love for the bike never really disappeared. It just needed the right environment to come alive again' says former Tour and Giro stage winner
