Tour de la Provence: Nairo Quintana wins overall on Montagne de Lure

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Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) landed the overall title at the Tour de la Provence, courtesy of a solo victory atop the Montagne de Lure on the final stage. 

The Colombian started the day 10th overall but attacked just over 4km from the summit of the 13.4km and left all his rivals in his wake to claim his second Provence title in three years. 

Race leader Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) fell away and although it looked like he'd dug deep to claim a highly creditable 12th place and top-10 overall finish, he was later disqualified for an apparent illegal bike change. 

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Second-placed Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) responded instantly to Quintana’s attack but later paid for it. The Frenchman had to dig deep on the upper reaches of the climb just to cling onto his second place. 

Mattias Skjelmose crossed the line in second place, 37 seconds behind Quintana, after some strong work from his Trek-Segafredo teammates Emanuel Ghebreigzabhier and Kenny Elissonde. The young Dane, who started the day fifth overall, claimed the final spot on the overall podium in the process. 

Matteo Jorgenson took third place on the day as he, like Skjelmose, rounded his Movistar teammate Ivan Sosa, who had dropped Alaphilippe in trying to hunt down Quintana, just ahead of the line. 

After being dropped by Quintana and then by Sosa, Alaphilippe leant on teammate Ilan Van Wilder, who was among the Trek-led chase group. The young Belgian put in such a strong acceleration in the final 500 metres that he finished in fifth place, with the world champion on the limit and fighting with the bike to limit his losses behind Ghebreigzabhier. 

After bonus seconds were factored in, Quintana, who started the day half a minute down, claimed the overall title - his second after triumphing in 2020 - by 27 seconds over Alaphilippe, with Skjelmose third at 34 seconds. Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) produced a late fightback to place eighth on the stage but ultimately lost his podium place and slipped to fifth, with Jorgenson placing fourth overall. 

Van Wilder rounded out the top six, while Ganna appeared to have done enough to seal seventh before being wiped from the final results sheet entirely. 

“It’s an important victory for me and for the team," said Quintana. "I wanted to repay their dedication and faith in me. And the win is for a friend of mine who left us, he’s now in the sky. I want to send a hug to his family."

How it unfolded

After a prologue, a flat stage, and a hilly stage, the towering Montagne de Lure signalled a mountainous finale to the four-day Tour de la Provence. The 166.6km stage looped around Manosque and Forcalquier, taking in two ascents of the category-3 Col de Buire, but it was all about the summit finish. 

Measuring 13.4km at an average gradient of 6.7 per cent, the Montagne de Lure - scene of Paris-Nice victories from Alberto Contador and Richie Porte - would have the final say. 

Much of the day ticked by in calm fashion, with a five-man breakaway heading up the road containing Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Romain Combaud (Team DSM), Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM), Nicolas Debeaumarche (St Michel-Auber 93), Jonathan Couanon (Nice Metropole). They built a lead of six minutes but were steadily reeled in. 

Combaud attacked at the foot of the Montagne de Lure and drew Debeaumarche with him, while the peloton started the ascent in calm fashion after the bunch had split on the fast downhill run-in. 

Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ) soon came to the front to set a strong tempo and remained there for several kilometres. However, his teammate Michael Storer was unable to make any impact on the day’s result. 

Armirail pulled aside with just under 7km to go, at which point Combaud was alone out front with 25 seconds in hand. Louis Vervaeke (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) then took the reins of a bunch that still contained some 30 riders, Ganna sitting comfortably in the middle.

With 5km to go, the climb got serious, with nothing below seven per cent from there to the top. Combaud was caught and then, when Vervaeke moved aside, Arkéa-Samsic took it up en masse. They didn’t need to do much, as Quintana wasted no time in taking flight with 4.3km to go. 

Immediately, he was joined by Alaphilippe and the pair forged clear. Sosa gave chase with Ghebreigzabhier in the wheel but the Eritrean soon dropped back to help pace Skjelmose.

Just over 3km from the top, Quintana kicked again and Alaphilippe was unable to respond. From there, the Colombian carved out an advantage of 30 seconds and held it all the way to the line. 

Alaphilippe was soon caught by Sosa and although he weathered a couple of mini accelerations he had to watch a second Colombian go up the road with 2.5km to go. As Sosa eased clear in the saddle, Alaphilippe produced a wild acceleration but to no avail. 

The world champion soon found himself back in a chase group that contained a teammate in Van Wilder, but was being powered along by the Trek-Segafredo trio. Van Wilder took the reins of it in the final 1,500 metres as they began to bear down on a fading Sosa. At that point, Alaphilippe was waging a war to try and limit the damage to Quintana and snatch the overall title. But the Colombian did not falter and the world champion instead found himself scrambling to hold on to his runner-up spot as Skjelmose left him behind in the final accelerations for the line. 

By that point, Quintana was home and dry, celebrating a repeat success at the race he won in 2020, during a period of early-season form that was halted by the pandemic and ultimately derailed by a knee injury. Could the former Giro and Vuelta champion be back to his best in 2022?