Paris-Tours 2017 [FULL RACE]

October 08, 2017

Paris-Tours 2017 – Brou – Tours : 234,5 km

Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m, at Le Gault-du-Perche. It is known as a “Sprinters’ Classic” because it frequently ends in a bunch sprint at the finish, in Tours. For several decades the race arrived on the 2.7 km long Avenue de Grammont, one of cycling’s best-known finishing straits, particularly renowned among sprinters. Since 2011 the finish was moved to a different location because a new tram line was built on the Avenue de Grammont.

Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) claimed his second Paris-Tours victory in three years, out-gunning Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) in a dramatic finale. Niki Terpstra crossed the line in third to give the Belgian team two riders on the podium.

Quick-Step Floors had pre-race favourite and defending champion Fernando Gaviria in the pack, but they had to think quickly when the Colombian was felled on a slick corner. Gaviria made it back to the tail end of the peloton, but it was clear that he was not going to get back to the front for the sprint. Taking his opportunity, Trentin attacked on the Côte de Beau Soleil and blew the peloton apart.

The Italian initially took other sprinters such as BMC’s Jempy Drucker with him, as others scrambled to catch up. An increase in pace soon left Trentin with just Kragh Andersen for company, before Terpstra managed to clear the gap. Terpstra had been one of the last riders to make the initial split, after toiling across the gap, but this time his teammate eased the pace to allow him to get across.

Quick-Step made good use of their numeric advantage, putting Terpstra at the front to take the brunt of the work. After a few tactical discussions, the chasers were visible back down the road, but the Belgian squad had time to execute their move perfectly. Trentin was first to strike out and Kragh Andersen was quick onto his wheel, but the Sunweb rider could do nothing to get past the charging Italian. It was the perfect way to close Trentin’s career with Quick-Step Floors as he sets sail for Orica-Scott over the winter.

“I did what I did two years ago when I won. Of course, it was a bit different. We were in a big bunch and there weren’t echelons here today. You know, with the light rain, the wet, and the course that was designed a bit different, it was a bit more technical in the approach to the climb,” said Trentin. “I saw that the bunch was straight and people were making big efforts to stay in the front so I decided to give it a go.

“The first group formed and then with the second one I saw we were two and then I saw Niki so I decided to wait and then we worked perfectly together. He really made a perfect lead-out together. That’s my way to finish the season and to thanks the team for these last seven year. I said it this morning in Instagram that the best way to end this chapter was winning and I did it and it’s a nice feeling.”

The day was marked by a five-man breakaway that moved clear in the opening kilometres. Romain Combaud (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Michael Goolaerts (Verandas Willems Crelan), Lawrence Naesen (WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect), Stephan Poulhies (Armee de Terre) and Brian van Goethem (Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij) were the riders to go up the road. They built up a lead of over four minutes before the peloton cut them down to closer to three minutes.

With Gaviria in their line-up, the other teams were more than happy to allow Quick-Step Floors set the pace on the front of the bunch with Iljo Keisse spending most of the race on the front. It was only as the race reached the final 70 kilometres that teams really began to pitch in and help them.

At just over 30 kilometres remaining, the pace began to show in the leading group as riders were dropped one by one. Poulhies was the first to go and Goolaerts wasn’t too far behind after he went too deep on a corner as the rain began to fall. Naesen looked the strongest as he dug in and dropped Comboud soon after. He and Van Goethem held on a few more kilometres but it was clear that they were not going to stay out there and with 20 kilometres remaining the gap was only 20 seconds.

The race appeared to be heading inexorably towards a sprint finish until Gaviria slid out going around a right-hand bend. He was quick to get up, but it took time to sort his bike out and it left him with plenty of ground to make up just as the race was really ramping up. AG2R La Mondiale was not about to wait for the defending champion and they put the hammer down, leaving Gaviria stuck at the back of the bunch without the power or energy to get back to the front.

The final nail for Gaviria was the Côte de Beau Soleil when Trentin decided to make his move. He could be seen slipping back with only Zdenek Stybar for company as several members of his team shot up the road after Trentin. The gaps were never too large, but it was enough for Quick-Step to make it their third straight victory at the sprinters’ Classic, with Trentin taking his second. Max Richeze and Yves Lampaert made it four riders in the top 10 for the Belgian team, while Andre Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) took fourth place by winning the sprint from the chase group.

Results :

1 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors 5:22:51
2 Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb
3 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quick-Step Floors 0:00:01
4 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:00:07
5 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Quick-Step Floors
6 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
8 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
9 Mike Teunissen (Ned) Team Sunweb
10 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) BMC Racing Team
11 Tom Devriendt (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
12 Lorenzo Manzin (Fra) FDJ
13 Amund Grondahl Jansen (Nor) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:10
14 Olivier Le Gac (Fra) FDJ 0:00:12
15 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:14
16 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:22
17 Jasper De Buyst (Bel) Lotto Soudal
18 Marc Sarreau (Fra) FDJ 0:00:28
19 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
20 Nikolas Maes (Bel) Lotto Soudal
21 Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Sunweb
22 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
23 Mark Mcnally (GBr) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
24 Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Katusha-Alpecin
25 Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
26 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:32
27 Rudy Barbier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:45
28 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors
29 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
30 Roy Jans (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
31 Jesper Asselman (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
32 Elmar Reinders (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
33 Kevin Le Cunff (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
34 Floris Gerts (Ned) BMC Racing Team
35 Damien Touze (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
36 Pierre Gouault (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
37 Dries Van Gestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
38 Frederik Backaert (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
39 Brecht Dhaene (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
40 Maxime Vantomme (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
41 Jenthe Biermans (Bel) Katusha-Alpecin
42 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole
43 Emils Liepins (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
44 Remy Di Gregorio (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
45 Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) AG2R La Mondiale
46 Lionel Taminiaux (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
47 Piotr Havik (Ned) Katusha-Alpecin
48 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
49 Delio Fernandez (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
50 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
51 David Menut (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
52 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
53 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
54 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
55 Stefan Küng (Swi) BMC Racing Team
56 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
57 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Werkilul (Eri) Dimension Data
58 Jos Van Emden (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
59 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Quick-Step Floors
60 Timo Roosen (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
61 Asbjørn Kragh Andersen (Den) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
62 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Sunweb
63 Angelo Tulik (Fra) Direct Energie
64 Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ
65 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ
66 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
67 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
68 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
69 Michael Morkov (Den) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:59
70 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
71 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:07
72 Huub Duijn (Ned) Veranda’s Willems Crelan 0:01:32
73 Jarl Salomein (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise 0:01:36
74 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
75 Sébastien Delfosse (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
76 Jordan Levasseur (Fra) Armee de Terre 0:01:38
77 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Armee de Terre 0:02:06
78 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
79 Romain Le Roux (Fra) Armee de Terre
80 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
81 Angel Madrazo (Spa) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
82 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:09
83 Lasse Norman Hansen (Den) Aqua Blue Sport 0:02:20
84 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Aqua Blue Sport
85 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Delko Marseille Provence KTM 0:02:22
86 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
87 Andre Looij (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
88 Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
89 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
90 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
91 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
92 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Wanty – Groupe Gobert
93 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal
94 Bram Welten (Ned) BMC Racing Team
95 Brian Van Goethem (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
96 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
97 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
98 Romain Guillemois (Fra) Direct Energie 0:02:41
99 Romain Cardis (Fra) Direct Energie
100 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Direct Energie
101 Taco Van Der Hoorn (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
102 Brice Feillu (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
103 Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:13
104 Oscar Riesebeek (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij 0:04:25
105 Jeroen Meijers (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
106 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Dimension Data
107 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal
108 Léo Vincent (Fra) FDJ
109 Max Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
110 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
111 Romain Combaud (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
112 Lander Seynaeve (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole
113 Dimitri Peyskens (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
114 Joeri Calleeuw (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole
115 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
116 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) FDJ
117 Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ
118 Dylan Kowalski (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
119 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
120 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
121 Jimmy Turgis (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
122 Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale
123 Kevyn Ista (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
124 Marco Mathis (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
125 Rick Zabel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin
126 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
127 Edward Planckaert (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise
128 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) Dimension Data
129 Adam Blythe (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
130 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Soudal
131 Florian Vachon (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
132 Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
133 Nicolas Dougall (RSA) Dimension Data
134 Moreno Hofland (Ned) Lotto Soudal
135 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect
136 Robert Wagner (Ger) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
137 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
138 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Team Sunweb
139 Sander Cordeel (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
140 Aidis Kruopis (Ltu) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
141 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
142 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij
143 Albert Timmer (Ned) Team Sunweb
144 Yohann Gene (Fra) Direct Energie 0:05:50
145 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Direct Energie
146 Romain Feillu (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
147 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Dimension Data
148 Yannick Martinez (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence KTM
149 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Armee de Terre
150 Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) Armee de Terre
151 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Armee de Terre
152 Thomas Rostollan (Fra) Armee de Terre
153 Nicolas Vereecken (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole
154 Dorian Godon (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
155 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
156 Enzo Wouters (Bel) Lotto Soudal
157 Daniel Pearson (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
158 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport 0:07:00
159 Alo Jakin (Est) HP BTP – Auber 93
160 Michael Goolaerts (Bel) Veranda’s Willems Crelan
161 Nicolas Baldo (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
162 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro 0:12:54
163 Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
164 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Team Fortuneo – Oscaro
165 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
166 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) HP BTP – Auber 93
167 Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Armee de Terre 0:19:34
DNF Nathan Van Hooydonck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
DNF Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Clement Orceau (Fra) Direct Energie
DNF Alex Kirsch (Lux) WB Veranclassic Aqua Protect