Drôme Classic 2022 [LAST 15 KM]

February 27, 2022

Drôme Classic 2022 – Étoile-sur-Rhône – Étoile-sur-Rhône : 191,5 km

La Drôme Classic closes out the weekend which is known as the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche. This time the peloton will skirt through the small villages of the Drôme region, where sharp and steep climbs await, enticing the puncheurs and whippets to the fore. La Drôme Classic was formed in 2013, but its first edition was postponed until the following year due to heavy snowfall. Fortunately, the race has been growing in stature ever since and the French weekend of racing has turned into an early-season highlight for fans and racers alike. The elevation gain of the race is perhaps deceiving. With around 2,000m of climbing across the day, La Drôme Classic has never been as hilly as the Ardèche section of the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche, but the Sunday race has a sting in its tail. Most of the climbing during La Drôme Classic is in the second half of the race and features steep climbs that snake their way up small villages spread out across the Val de Drôme region. The peloton is often dwindled down to a select few, where only the strongest can make their mark on this tough course.

Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) held off the chasers and charged up the final climb to take victory in the Drome Classic.

The 25-year-old Danish rider was part of a move that went clear with 38 kilometres remaining before breaking clear with Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates).

On the penultimate climb Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl Team) attacked on the steepest 16 per cent gradient with Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën Team) able to follow.

The trio were chasing the leaders into the finish at Étoile-sur-Rhône but on the finishing climb but Vingegaard narrowly held off finishing three seconds ahead of a quick finishing Martin in second and Cosnefroy third.

Ayuso, aged 19, cracked on the final climb but finished fourth ahead of Alaphilippe who also faltered on the final hill.

The win was Vingegaard’s sixth of his career and first of the season.

How it unfolded
As in the previous day’s one-day race, the Ardèche Classic, all eyes were again on world road champion Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl Team) and former three-time Vuelta a España winner Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

However, the previous day saw both the favourites cancel each other out allowing Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) to take a solo victory.

McNulty also started the Drone Classic as the field largely mirrored that of the previous day.

A field of 142 riders faced 191 kilometres through the villages of the Drome region in the south-east of France including 16 categorised climbs before an uphill finish in Étoile-sur-Rhône.

Short but steep climbs characterised the course with the longest three climbs being around four kilometres in length and over 2,300 metres were climbed over the course.

The early breakaway consisted of Asbjørn Hellemose (Trek-Segafredo), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team), Johan Means (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB), Mathias Bregnhøj (Riwal Cycling Team), Thomas Denis (Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Axel Mariault (Team U Nantes Atlantique).

The breakaway’s gap peaked at around the five-minute mark but with UAE Team Emirates, Alpecin-Fenix, Lotto Soudal and Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux sharing the tempo setting their advantage slowly decreased to 2-10 with 90 kilometres remaining.

On the approach to the steep and narrow Mur d’Allex the peloton was at full speed reducing the breakaway’s gap to less than a minute despite having 65 kilometres remaining and Means was the next riders dropped from the front group.

Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) attacked on the climb and caught Means before jumping across to the leaders who had a gap of 37 seconds on the bunch.

The bunch caught the breakaway, including Latour, on the Col de la Grande Limite lower slopes with 40 kilometres remaining.

On the 3.9-kilometre climb Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) attacked taking with him a group of four riders including Mauri Vansevenant (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl Team), Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) and Victor Lafay (Cofidis).

Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) was part of a chasing quartet which bridged across to the leaders along with Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal).

AG2R Citroën Team had missed the breakaway move and were forced to chase the 58-second advantage the leaders had with 30 kilometres remaining.

On the following Côte des Roberts the strength of 19-year-old Ayuso pulled him clear of the leading group with Vingegaard covering the move.

Hitting the Côte de Grâne with 20 kilometres remaining the leading duo had a gap of 17 seconds on the chasers and 54 seconds over the peloton driven by QuickStep-AlphaVinyl Team.

Alaphilippe took the front of the peloton on the technical descent forcing a split in the bunch with 18 kilometres remaining and two classified climbs.

However, the world champion found unwilling participants in the small split and the reduced bunch pulled Alaphilippe and the remains of the breakaway back leaving just two leaders.

The penultimate climb was the narrow and steep Mur d’Allex and Alaphilippe attacked on the steepest 16 per cent gradient with Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) and Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën Team) able to follow.

Over the final classified climb with 10 kilometres remaining the leading dup had a gap of 21 seconds over the Alaphilippe group while a reduced peloton was at 37 seconds.

On the flat road into the finishing climb the leaders were holding on with Alaphilippe, Martin and Cosnefroy sitting just 14 seconds behind with four kilometres to go.

That gap held approaching the final kilometre as Vingegaard pushed the pace into the final one-kilometre climb in Étoile-sur-Rhône.

Cosnefroy and Martin charged after the leading pair on the finish climb but Alaphilippe could not respond.

At the front Vingegaard made his move with 300 metres to go and despite Martin and Cosnefroy closing he held on for victory.

Martin took second and Cosnefroy third both passing Ayuso in the final stages who finished fourth.

Results :
1 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 4:37:05
2 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:03
3 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
4 Juan Ayuso Pesquera (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:21
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:29
6 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:34
7 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:00:36
8 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
10 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:38
11 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
12 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
13 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
14 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
15 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
16 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:42
17 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies
18 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
19 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:44
20 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
21 Lennard Kämna (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:46
22 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:48
23 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
24 Torstein Træen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
25 Maxim Van Gils (Bel) Lotto Soudal
26 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
27 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana Qazaqstan Team
28 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:53
29 Sylvain Moniquet (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:56
30 Sam Oomen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:59
31 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:01
32 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:03
33 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
34 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:14
35 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:27
36 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
37 Louis Barre (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:01:30
38 Romain Gregoire (Fra) Groupama – Fdj 0:01:38
39 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
40 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:01:39
41 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:01:40
42 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:01:46
43 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:51
44 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
45 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:01:53
46 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
47 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
48 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:02:04
49 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis 0:02:29
50 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:45
51 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:03:12
52 Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:19
53 Gil Gelders (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces Wb Development Team 0:03:45
54 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
55 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
56 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:03:47
57 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
58 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:03:51
59 Jacob Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team
60 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:00
61 Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:04:10
62 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
63 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:06:08
64 Reuben Thompson (NZl) Groupama – Fdj
65 Mikaël Cherel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:06:09
66 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:06:14
67 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
68 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
69 Andreas Kron (Den) Lotto Soudal
70 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
71 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:06:19
72 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur 0:06:27
73 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:06:34
74 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:06:36
75 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:06:38
76 Niklas Eg (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team 0:06:58
77 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:08:16
78 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:08:49
79 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
80 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis 0:09:58
81 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
82 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
83 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
84 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:10:07
85 Mathias Bregnhøj (Den) Riwal Cycling Team 0:13:05
86 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
87 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
88 Asbjørn Hellemose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
89 Martin Urianstad (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
90 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroen Team
91 Paul Hennequin (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
92 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
93 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
94 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
95 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
96 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
97 Romain Hardy (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
98 Anthon Charmig (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
99 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
100 Jacob Madsen (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
101 Lucas Eriksson (Swe) Riwal Cycling Team 0:13:11
102 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
103 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:13:12
104 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
105 Nurbergen Nurlykhassym (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
106 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
107 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel – Auber 93
108 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
109 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
110 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) Astana Qazaqstan Team
111 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Astana Qazaqstan Team
112 Harm Vanhoucke (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:13:21
113 Steff Cras (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Finn Fisher-Black (NZl) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Joel Suter (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
DNF Simon Dehairs (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix Development Team
DNF Edward Anderson (USA) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNS Anton Palzer (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
DNF Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal
DNF Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal
DNF Anders Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
DNF Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Johan Meens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
DNS Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
DNF Martijn Budding (Ned) Riwal Cycling Team
DNS Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Cycling Team
DNF Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
DNF Thomas Denis (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
DNF Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
DNF Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
DNS Evaldas Šiškevičius (Ltu) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole
DNF Leo Danes (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Maël Guegan (Fra)
DNF Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Axel Mariault (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
DNF Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
DNF Edouard Bonnefoix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur