Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise 2022 [LAST 15 KM]

January 30, 2022

Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise 2022 – Château-Gombert – Marseille : 174,3 km

Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d’Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually the first race of the European calendar

Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-Samsic) took victory at the GP La Marseillaise, sprinting to his first career win outside the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille ahead of Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Francisco Galván (Kern Pharma).

The Belgian continued his strong start to the season, having finished second at last week’s Clàssica Valenciana. He timed his surge to the line to perfection after TotalEnergies’ lead out had taken control of the front of the peloton in the final kilometre.

Their man, Edvald Boasson Hagen, jumped a little too early, though, and was swamped before the line as first Pedersen and then – right at the death – Capiot swept past. Spaniard Galván rounded out the podium ahead of Boasson Hagen while the fast-finishing Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) took fifth.

Arkéa-Samsic has organised their own sprint train in the finale having earlier worked to chase down the break and late attacker Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), who was caught 6.5 kilometres out. However, TotalEnergies were massed on the front and so Capiot took the decision to instead jump onto Pedersen’s wheel.

That proved a savvy choice, with the Danish former world champion making his way onto Boasson Hagen’s wheel just in time for the sprint. When it launched in the last few hundred metres, Capiot was in exactly the right place to profit, and in the process step on the top of the podium for the first time in his career.

How it unfolded

The 43rd edition of the GP La Marseillaise kicked off the 2022 French road season, serving up 174.3 kilometres of riding over challenging hilly terrain for the peloton of 143 riders to tackle. With numerous climbs packed into the parcours, would be few flat kilometres during the race, with the Pas d’Ouillier (4.4km at 5.3 per cent) at 29 kilometres to go and the Col de la Gineste (7.6km at 3 per cent) 10 kilometres from the line the main late challenges.

It took under 15 kilometres for the breakaway to form after a number of attacks during the early stages of the race. Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels-KTM) was the major name in the move, and the Frenchman was joined out from by Nicolas Debeamarché (St Michel-Auber93), Clément Carisey (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Louis Blouwe (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces WB), Danny van der Tuuk (Kern Pharma), and Aaron Van Poucke (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise).

The sextet quickly built a gap of a minute before Jordan Jegat (Team U Nantes Atlantique), and Julien Amador (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) countered and made it across in no short order while Van Poucke was distanced, leaving seven men out front with 150 kilometres to go.

They enjoyed a large lead of just over seven minutes at that point as Groupama-FDJ, Trek-Segafredo, and AG2R Citroën were among the teams setting the pace back in the peloton. After two hours of racing and with 70 kilometres covered, Amador was the next man to drop from the breakaway, leaving his five former companions with a five-minute advantage.

Over the hilly mid-section of the race, the break split up as Gougeard and Debeamarché outpaced the rest of the move, but things came back together fairly quickly, though the gap was only going down. At 70 kilometres to go, the pair made it away again, shedding Jegat in the process before the group came back together once again.

The remaining quintet ploughed on, but the climbing was taking its toll, and at the 50-kilometre mark, the EF Education- and UAE-led peloton was just 2:30 in arrears. Up front, Blouwe was detached on a tough climb as riders pushed on back in the peloton, leaving four men in the break.

Over the next 10km the break disintegrated for good, leaving just Gougeard and Debeamarché up front while Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) lead the attacking from the peloton with Sandy Dujardin (TotalEnergies) and Van der Tuuk in his wheel.

At the 30km to go, Ulissi’s group had merged with the two up front, though the new lead group enjoyed a 40-second lead over the peloton, where Trek-Segafredo lead the chase. The next climb saw Ulissi move away for good, with Gougeard the last man to hang on, while 50 seconds back Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) launched a move,

The Frenchman brought Ulissi’s teammate Alexys Brunel with him, while Debeamarché, Gougeard and Dujardin also joined them, with the group dragging back Ulissi at 21km to go. Four kilometres later, on the Col de la Gineste, Martin made his move once more, with only Brunel able to follow his acceleration immediately before dropping soon after.

Brunel, Ulissi and Dujardin attempted a chase but with attacks from the peloton behind, they were brought back at 11.5km to go, with Martin left out front with a slim 20-second lead.

His adventure ended with six kilometres to go despite his best effort, leaving a reduced bunch to race to a sprint finish in Marseille, where it was 28-year-old Capiot who triumphed, giving the French ProTeam their first victory of the season.

Results :
1 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Arkea-Samsic 4:31:11
2 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
3 Francisco Galvan Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
4 Edvald Boasson-Hagen (Nor) TotalEnergies
5 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
6 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
7 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
8 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
9 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
10 Alberto Bettiol (Ita) EF Education-Nippo
11 Fernando Barceló Aragon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
12 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis
13 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
14 Hugo Houle (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
15 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
16 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
17 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
18 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
19 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
20 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
21 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
22 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis
23 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
24 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
25 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
26 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Cofidis
27 Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
28 Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
29 Kenneth Van Rooy (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
30 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
31 Joel Nicolau Beltran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
32 Sandy Dujardin (Fra) TotalEnergies
33 Joel Suter (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
34 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies
35 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
36 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) TotalEnergies
37 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
38 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
39 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Education-Nippo
40 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
41 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:07
42 Connor Swift (GBr) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:13
43 Clément Russo (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:15
44 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:18
45 Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies
46 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
47 Alexys Brunel (Fra) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:21
48 Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux 0:03:35
49 Eugenio Sanchez Lopez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:04:43
50 Louis Barre (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
51 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroen Team
52 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
53 Alexandre Delettre (Fra) Cofidis
54 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
55 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
56 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
57 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:05:56
58 Sébastien Grignard (Bel) Lotto Soudal
59 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
60 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
61 Jonas Gregaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
62 Anders Skaarseth (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
63 Alessandro Verre (Ita) Arkea-Samsic
64 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
65 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:46
66 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
67 Lindsay De Vylder (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
68 Antoine Raugel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
69 Derek Gee (Can) Israel Cycling Academy
70 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
71 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal
72 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
73 Pau Miquel Delgado (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
74 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
75 Louis Blouwe (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
76 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
77 Yael Joalland (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
78 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
79 Paul Lapeira (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
80 Johan Meens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
81 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
82 Ibon Ruiz Sedano (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
83 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
84 Victor Koretzky (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
85 Aimé De Gendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
86 Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
87 Torjus Sleen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
88 Guillaume Boivin (Can) Israel Start-Up Nation
89 Danny van der Tuuk (Ned) Equipo Kern Pharma
90 Owain Doull (GBr)
91 Michael Valgren (Den) EF Education-Nippo
92 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
93 Alan Jousseaume (Fra) TotalEnergies
94 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
95 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:11:37
96 Jens Reynders (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:11:52
97 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
98 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
99 Calum Johnston (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
100 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
101 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
102 Arne Marit (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
103 Hugo Toumire (Fra) Cofidis
104 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
105 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
106 Ceriel Desal (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
107 Aritz Bagües Kalparsoro (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
108 Edo Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
109 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-Up Nation
110 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal
111 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
112 Morten Hulgaard (Den) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
113 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
114 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
115 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:15:30
116 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
117 Mael Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
118 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel – Auber 93
119 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
120 Aaron Van Poucke (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:16:49
121 Maxime Jarnet (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
122 Kristoffer Halvorsen (Nor) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
123 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:17:46
124 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) EF Education-Nippo
125 Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-Nippo
126 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel – Auber 93
127 Evaldas Šiškevičius (Ltu) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
128 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
129 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-Nippo
130 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Julien Amadori (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
DNF Alan Boileau (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Paul Hennequin (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote D’Azur
DNF Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Daniel Alejandro Mendez Noreña (Col) Equipo Kern Pharma
DNF Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Simone Petilli (Ita) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
DNF Tom Paquet (Lux) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNS Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
DNS Ivo Manuel Alves Oliveira (Por) Uae Team Emirates