Tour de la Provence: Elia Viviani wins stage 1

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Elia Viviani won stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence to Les-Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer in the Camargue region of the south of France after crosswinds sparked echelons and a major shake-out amongst the overall contenders.     

Twenty-seven riders eventually emerged in a multi-team attack from Ineos Grenadiers, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Akrea-Samsic with 80km to race. They used the strong wind to spit out other riders and opened a gap that the peloton was unable to close. 

Maciej Bodnar (TotalEnergies) made a solo attack in the final eight kilometres but Filippo Ganna closed him down and then Luke Rowe set-up Viviani for the tailwind sprint.

Viviani kicked away to victory out of the final corner, with Sep Vanmarke (Israel-Premier Tech) only able to follow him over the line, with Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) taking third after an aggressive ride by the world champion. 

Alaphilippe picked up some bonus seconds during the stage but Ganna kept the race lead after dominating Thursday’s prologue time trial. He leads Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) by four seconds, with Samuele Battistella (Astana) third at 10 seconds. 

Viviani has endured two lean years at Cofidis due to injury, a lack of an experienced lead-out and low morale but he appears back to his best and finished off some superb work by his teammates Richard Carapaz, Filippo Ganna and then Rowe.  

“I’m happy to win again but it’s not so much about the new team. I ended last season with Cofidis really well and that’s important to approach the new season. Of course, I’m really happy to be back at Ineos. It’s really important for a sprinter to win at the start of the season,” Viviani explained. 

“We knew I had good form at Valenciana, I was 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so the big goal in Provence was to win the first race of the season. Now it’s done, so now we keep going.

“It was not an easy, flat stage because of the wind. We moved really well and we have really experienced guys for the Classics like Luke Rowe, so when we saw that there were four up front, including Richie (Carapaz) for the GC, that was good. Then we just kept pushing. We were happy that there weren’t any other sprinters. The guys did an amazing job. Ganna closed down Bodnar when he attacked in the final kilometres and then Luke Rowe did a perfect lead-out for me. I have to thank all the team today."

How it unfolded

With the wind blowing across the south of France before the start, the riders and their directeur sportif knew the 152km stage from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer was going to be far more than a day for the sprinters.

After an early flurry of attacks, Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) forced their way clear of the peloton. They were joined by Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93) after a chase to create the break of the day.

They went over the early climb and rode to the spectacular Roman city of Arles together but the wind was increasing as they neared the exposed salt marshes of the Camargue.

With 80km to go the rider knew it was the moment to attack. Ineos Grenadiers and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl suddenly occupied the front positions, sparking panic behind them as riders fought for shelter and piece of the road. However, there was only enough room for 30 or so riders, with a crash sparking a split and opening the gap.

TotalEnergies and Arkea-Samsic were there in numbers too protecting the overall hopes of Latour and Nairo Quintana, but Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) were amongst those who missed the split.

With the likes of Bodnar, Rowe and Ganna driving, the gap soon opened to a minute as Groupama-FDJ tried to save face and chase.

A few riders were spat out from the front group and 27 went clear ready for the showdown on the circuits of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the salt marshes.

The 27 were: Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke (QuickStep-AlpaVinyl), Elia Viviani, Filippo Ganna, Richard Carapaz, Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Trek-Segafredo), Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Maciej Bodnar, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Martijn Tusveld (DSM), Sep Vanmarcke, Tom Van Asbroeck, Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel Premier Tech), Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur).

A notable absentee from this front group was 2021 winner Ivan Sosa (Movistar), while his teammate Gorka Izagirre abandoned after crashing in the chaos. Groupama-FDJ committed to the chase but couldn't stop the gap rising to 1:30 as the wind turned into a tailwind and blew the race along the road at over 50km/h.

The rider reached Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for the first time with 47km to race, with Alaphilippe winning the intermediate sprint to grab three extra seconds.

Aurelien Paret-Peintre was second in that intermediate sprint, with Louis Vervaeke third across the line, the riders knowing every second might count before Sunday’s mountain finish atop the Montagne de Lure.

Groupama-FDJ finally convinced Cofidis to help them with the chase but it was far too late and the French teams were left to embarrassingly argue about who was at fault.

Upfront the race was about the stage victory and the overall contenders limiting any time losses. Quintana had impressed the echelon and looked strong to the finish.

There were some exposed sections on the circuits but not enough and not in the right direction to split the group. Alaphilippe beat Latour to win the second intermediate sprint as Viviani studied the finish for the next to the line.

Strangely nobody tried to attack until eight kilometres to go when Bodnar made his move. He is a talented, power time trialist and surged away, as Latour let a gap and shouted at him to go for it. Carapaz tried to close him down but was outpowered by the exposed wind and suddenly a sprint seemed unlikely. Even Alaphilippe tried to go across to Bodnar, forcing the intervention of Ganna.

The Italian race leader was perhaps hoping to save himself to set up Viviani in the sprint but he began to do long turns on the front to bring the race back together. He managed to even drop Carapaz and the resort of the attack and he time trialled after Bodnar but eased up and closed the gap anyway before keeping the speed high into the final kilometre. It was an impressive show of power and prowess from the track and time trial champion and will be fascinating to see how he performs at Milan-San Remo and the cobbled Classics.

As the rider entered Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Rowe stepped up to play his part. He jumped on Latour’s late surge to give Viviani a perfect lead out to the final corner. The Italian then tucked low and fast and sprinted away from his rivals to give Ineos Grenadiers their second consecutive stage win.