Tour de la Provence: Bouhanni wins stage 1

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Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) won stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence, beating Jakub Mareczko (CCC) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) in a bunch sprint in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Mareczko led into the gentle final bend but Bouhanni displayed a fine turn of speed in the closing metres to come past the Italian and claim his second victory of the 2020 season. 

Bouhanni joined Arkea-Samsic this winter after failing to land a single win during a troubled final season at Cofidis. The Frenchman has begun the new campaign on an upbeat note, and he carried that form into the opening stage of the Tour de la Provence in the south of France.

Pierre Barbier (Nippo Delko Provence) came from a long way back to place fourth in the bunch sprint ahead of Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Start-Up Nation), while Chris Lawless (Ineos) took sixth.

“In the sprint, I was still a long way back with 300m to go and I had to make a big effort to come back up and dispute the sprint. I followed Nizzolo’s wheel into the final corner and then I continued with my effort,” Bouhanni said afterwards.

“It’s a long time since I’ve won two races this early in the season. Maxime Bouet rode for me in the finale and Warren [Bargui] also did great work to help to bring back the break.”

The stage was animated by a four-man move comprising Johan Jacobs (Movistar Team), British neo-pro Charles Quarterman (Trek-Segafredo), Romain Combaud (Nippo Delko One Provence) and Louis Louvet (St-Michel-Auber 93). The escapees forged clear in the opening kilometres and established a maximum gap of 3:30 before the sprinters’ teams took up the reins of pursuit.

The quartet had a buffer of two minutes with 50km remaining and still had a minute in hand with 15km to go, but the efforts of Deceuninck-QuickStep saw them swept up at the three-kilometre to go banner.

Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) briefly opened a gap over the peloton inside the final two kilometres but he was quickly brought to heel by a determined delegation from Team Ineos, who were eager to set up Lawless for an attempt at the bunch sprint.

No one team was able to seize control of the lead-out in the closing kilometre. Nizzolo opened his sprint from distance but mistimed his effort and was overtaken by a flying Mareczko with 150 metres remaining.

Bouhanni, whose Arkea-Samsic team has GC aspirations with French champion Warren Barguil and Nairo Quintana this week, was surfing the wheels in search of victory in the finale, and he timed his attempt perfectly to come past Mareczko to claim the stage honours.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) were among those starting their seasons on an overcast and chilly afternoon in the Camargue and both riders finished safely in the main peloton with the rest of the general classification favourites.

It was Pinot’s first appearance since abandoning the 2019 Tour de France and Quintana’s debut outing in Arkea-Samsic colours. Both men will look to offer an early indication of their form when the race visits Mont Ventoux on Saturday.

Bouhanni carries the overall lead into Friday’s hilly leg from Aubagne to La Ciotat. The next two days are more suited to his teammates, but Bouhanni and the fast men will expect another opportunity on the final stage in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday. 

“My objective now is the GC with Nairo and Warren,” Bouhanni said. “But there’s always the final stage.”

Stage results

General classification