The Italian Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers team) was the fastest among the select group of runners who starred in the good breakaway of the day and took with authority the first stage of the Tour La Provence disputed between Istres and Les Saintes-Maries-de- la-Mer, with a distance of 151.8 km, in which his teammate and compatriot Filippo Ganna maintained the lead and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz gained positions.
Viviani won again with the British squad, which he abandoned in 2018 to go through the Deceuninck and Cofidisand he did it by making a sprint demonstration in the group of favorites who decided the stage with a select and distant breakaway.
The Olympic omnium champion in Rio 2016 and the elimination world champion in 2021 had no rival in the decisive stretch. Launched by none other than Ganna, he finished off the task with a time of 3 hours 17 minutes 58 seconds, in a fast day affected by the strong wind that marked an average of 46 km / h.
Second place went to Belgian Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Premier Tech) and third place to double world road champion Julian Alaphilippe, restless and ambitious at all times, true to his style. Colombian Nairo Quintana (Arkea) crossed the first group, while Carapaz (Ineos) lost 16 seconds in the final stretch.
Ganna, thanks to the gain obtained in the prologue, kept the leader’s jersey, with 4 seconds over Alaphilippe and 10 over Frenchman Pierre Latour (Total Energies).
Meanwhile, the Carchi Locomotive He came from the prologue in 53rd place and with a difference of 38 seconds from the first positioned cyclist. He is now at +51s and instead 19.
The best in the lead
Very busy stage from the beginning, with the leading names of the race. After an inconsequential escape of 5 riders, with Rossetto, Mainguenaud, Verschaeve, Pierre Rolland Delacroix and Jean Goubert, the fans and the strong wind broke the peloton in several sectors.
70 km from the finish line, 30 runners were left in front, among them Ganna, Alaphilippe, Quintana and Carapaz, but the defender of the title, the Colombian from Movistar Iván Ramiro Sosa, and the British Hayter, second overall, remained on the court. The leader of the telephone box yielded at the finish line 11:25 minutes.
The differences between the groups began to increase. At 58 minutes from the finish line, the advanced team had 1:12 minutes. Some falls had already occurred, such as the one that forced the Spanish Gorka Izagirre to withdraw. Ahead was flying, there was no truce and the greats of the peloton insisted on deciding the stage among themselves, with no margin for weakness.
‘We are not one hundred’, says Carapaz at the start of Provence
Many good riders in the lead, no less than two world champions, Ganna and Alaphilippe, an Olympic champion, like Carapaz, all delivered for a stage win. Among the 23 men who arrived at the moment of truth, the Polish Bognar tried to surprise 8 finishers by putting the turbo that accredits him as 7 times national time trial champion, and with the wind blowing at 45 km/hour an end was unleashed exciting.
The brave man was kept at bay with a 150 meter lead, but Alaphilippe decided to take the reins to end the adventure with the wind blowing in his favor.
Ineos carried pure dynamite with Ganna, who attacked from afar, clearing the ground for Viviani, who followed his teammate’s wheel to finish off the short finish line. The Italian, who already gave glory to then Sky in 2017, returned to rediscover glory in the British squad.
On Saturday, the second stage between Arles and Manosque, 180.6 km, will be held, a mid-mountain route that will line up for the places of honor in the general classification.
To begin with the non-scoring stop of Les Baux de Provence, before halfway through the Cota de Lauris (3a, 1 km at 5.8 percent), and in the second half the Col de la Mort D’Imbert (3a, 5.8 km to 3.9) and the Col de l’Aire dei Masco (2a, 6.6 km to 4.8). At the end, ramp up from 1.2 km to 4.2. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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