Arnaud Démare wins Tour de Vendée as Peter Sagan bids farewell to road racing

Arnaud Démare claimed his first victory in the colours of Arkéa-Samsic when he sprinted to the win at the Tour de Vendée ahead of Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) and Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies).

In his final race as a professional on the road, Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) came home in ninth place after sitting up in the sprint. The three-time world champion will focus his attention on mountain biking in 2024 with an eye to competing at the Paris Olympics.

The flat course of the Tour de Vendée was always likely to lend itself to a sprint, particularly with a broad coalition of teams – including TotalEnergies, Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ and Arkéa-Samsic – all content to ride for a mass finish.

Thomas Gachignard (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) and Enekoitz Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi) were the day’s early escapees, but they were never likely to upset the script in the Vendée, and they were swept up inside the final 50km, just as the race approached the finish line for the first time.

The controlling interest of the sprinters’ teams served to discourage attacks thereafter on the finishing circuit, though the high speed did succeed in whittling the peloton down to fifty or so riders come the final lap.

A crash in the peloton with 4km to go caused a degree of disruption, but the key fast men made it safely through without any issue, and the race would finish in the anticipated mass sprint.

Sagan was prominent in the finale and he briefly raised hopes of a farewell win when he moved up ahead of the final bend, but he faded backwards from there with his teammate Dujardin instead disputing the sprint.

Penhoët led out of the final bend, but Démare came around his former teammate to claim an emphatic win and pick up his first victory since his mid-season transfer from Groupama-FDJ to Arkéa-Samsic. There was consolation for Penhoët, who did enough to secure overall victory in the season-long Coupe de France standings.

Dujardin took third place ahead of 2022 winner Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), while Clément Venturini (AG2R Citroën) came home in fifth in La Roche-sur-Yon on a day that saw Peter Sagan draw a line under his career on the road.

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