Route d’Occitanie 2020 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

August 4, 2020

Route d’Occitanie 2020 – Stage 4 – Lectoure – Rocamadour : 195 km

Racing returns to France on Saturday with the start of the four-day Route d’Occitanie, which features a host of Tour de France hopefuls – notably defending champion Egan Bernal and four-time winner Chris Froome, both of Team Ineos, and a trio of French favourites in the shape of Thibaut Pinot (Gropupama-FDJ), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and road race national champion Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic). What was for many years the Route du Sud – a race that stuck extremely close to the Pyrenees – the Route d’Occitanie (pronounced ‘Oxy’ rather than ‘Ocky’) now covers a huge swathe of terrain across southern France, including much of the ground that once featured in the much-missed GP de Midi Libre. Its format, however, remains essentially the same as it was under its Route du Sud guise, with two relatively straightforward stages to begin with, a tough stage in the mountains on day three that’s very likely to decide the overall winner, and a sprinter-friendly finale to finish.

Benoît Cosnefroy produced what is fast-becoming his trademark punchy finish to win the fourth and final stage of the Route d’Occitanie in Rocamadour. Set up perfectly by his AG2R La Mondiale teammates coming into the foot of the kilometre-long ascent to the line, Cosnefroy breezed past Fausto Masnada (CCC Team), the last survivor from the day’s break, and Omar Fraile (Astana) to claim his third win of the season.

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) led in the small group just behind Cosnefroy, with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) in third and Egan Bernal (Team Ineos) fourth and confirmed as the overall victor.

“This was the stage that suited me best. I had the team to set me up and they did a crazy amount of work to do so,” said Cosnefroy. “Pierre [Latour] set a fierce pace on the front of the bunch, then Mikael [Chérel] and Romain [Bardet] got me in the right position at the foot of the climb. When Romain moved over, I just had to give everything I had, to make the kind of effort I’m best at.

“I didn’t have great legs when I was in the break yesterday, I think because we’ve just come from an altitude camp and I’m still feeling the effects of that, and I was a little worried today. I’m really happy to have won again now that the season’s restarted just as I did at the start of the year,” Cosnefroy added.

Following an emotional tribute to Nicolas Portal at the start of the stage in Lectoure, it took three-quarters of an hour for the break to form, with several previous efforts reeled in before a group of 11 managed to get clear of the peloton. It featured Filippo Zana (Bardiani CSF), Maxime Cam (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Christophe Laporte (Cofidis), Antoine Duchesne (Groupama-FDJ), Alan Riou (Arkea-Samsic), Anthony Turgis (Total Direct Energie), Matteo Malucelli (Caja Rural), Julien Trarieux (Nippo Delko), Nick Van Der Lijke (Riwal Readynez), and CCC’s Masnada and Georg Zimmermann.

The escapees’ advantage concertinaed between two-and-half and three-and-a-half minutes for most of the day, Ineos making sure that Masnada, the best-placed of the breakaways in 22nd at 2:55, couldn’t develop any ideas about pulling off a huge GC coup. On the first run up the third-category Hospitalet climb to the finish in Rocamadour, Masnada and fellow Italian Zana edged away from the break, while the peloton began to sweep up the first riders who’d been dropped from this group.

With 10km remaining, Zana and Masnada had a 90-second cushion on the peloton, where Bahrain McLaren and AG2R La Mondiale had taken up the pace-making with the aim of setting up Sonny Colbrelli and Cosnefroy, respectively. With 9km left, Masnada pushed on alone, hoping to maintain enough of a buffer to fend off the bunch on the final rise to the line.

As what remained of the peloton descended towards the bottom of this last ramp, Astana’s Omar Fraile went clear. Seeing the danger, Cosnefroy went off in pursuit. On the steep section into Rocamadour that the race organisers had kept clear of fans as a health precaution, the punchy Cosnefroy swept past Fraile and the fading Masnada, his effort timed perfectly.

Results :
1 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 4:23:28
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:02
3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
4 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Ineos
5 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
6 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:00:07
7 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
8 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo
9 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:00:10
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:12
11 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
12 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
13 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:19
14 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:22
15 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:25
16 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:26
17 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
18 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:00:31
19 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis
20 Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
21 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
22 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:39
23 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert
24 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
25 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
26 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:00:46
27 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:00:48
28 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren
29 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
30 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:52
31 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:57
32 Ibon Ruiz Sedano (Spa) Kern Pharma
33 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:02
34 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
35 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team
36 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:11
37 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:01:17
38 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:20
39 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
40 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:25
41 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid
42 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren
43 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
44 Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana Pro Team
45 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:34
46 Piotr Havik (Ned) Riwal Readynez 0:01:40
47 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
48 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
49 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:42
50 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team
51 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team
52 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
53 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
54 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:01:50
55 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:01:52
56 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:00
57 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:21
58 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
59 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz de Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
60 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:38
61 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:40
62 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:51
63 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team
64 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:54
65 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team 0:02:55
66 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos 0:03:04
67 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 0:03:33
68 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:50
69 Scott Davies (GBr) Bahrain McLaren
70 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
71 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos 0:04:07
72 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Team Ineos
73 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:33
74 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
75 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez
76 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez
77 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie
78 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
79 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
80 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
81 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
82 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
83 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team
84 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
85 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
86 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:39
87 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:06:01
88 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
89 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:06:21
90 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos 0:06:42
91 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos
92 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team
93 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren
94 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:06:47
95 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
96 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:08:20
97 Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:09:06
98 Frederik Dombrowski (Ger) Bike Aid 0:09:07
99 Erik Bergröm (Swe) Bike Aid
100 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
101 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Kern Pharma
102 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:09:26
103 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:09:37
104 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:09:48
105 Maxime Cam (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:12:42
106 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team 0:13:01
107 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid
108 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
109 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Kern Pharma
110 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
111 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
112 Sergio Nestor Araiz Michel (Spa) Kern Pharma
113 Dzmitry Zhyhunou (Blr) Euskaltel-Euskadi
114 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
115 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
116 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93 0:13:04
117 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:13:33
118 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez
119 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
120 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:13:34
121 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
122 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis
123 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez
124 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis 0:13:45
125 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis
126 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
127 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
128 Alexander Evans (Aus) Circus-Wanty Gobert
129 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
DNF Adrien Petit (Fra) Total Direct Energie
DNF Hector Saez Benito (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
DNF Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
DNF Joan Bou Company (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Martin Bouzas Rey (Spa) Kern Pharma

Final General Classification :
1 Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Team Ineos 17:57:27
2 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:00:19
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:00:23
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:37
5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:09
6 Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:26
7 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:29
8 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:52
9 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:57
10 Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:06
11 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:02:15
12 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:02:20
13 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:49
14 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:52
15 Jhojan Orlando Garcia Sosa (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:02
16 Simone Petilli (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:03:25
17 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
18 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:03:52
19 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren 0:03:56
20 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:04:00
21 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:15
22 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:04:29
23 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team 0:04:35
24 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:04:52
25 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:05:09
26 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team
27 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:05:18
28 Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:05:29
29 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:05:39
30 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:06:16
31 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:46
32 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:07:56
33 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:08:02
34 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:08:48
35 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
36 Kevin Inkelaar (Ned) Bahrain McLaren 0:08:49
37 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Ineos 0:09:26
38 Kevin Ledanois (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:09:46
39 Hernando Bohorquez Sanchez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:11:41
40 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:48
41 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:13:02
42 Scott Davies (GBr) Bahrain McLaren 0:13:10
43 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:13:27
44 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:13:29
45 Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:14:05
46 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo 0:14:13
47 Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:14:37
48 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:14:48
49 Marti Marquez Roman (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:15:13
50 Joseph Rosskopf (USA) CCC Team 0:15:31
51 Erik Bergröm (Swe) Bike Aid 0:15:44
52 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Ineos 0:16:44
53 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence 0:17:13
54 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Team Ineos 0:17:30
55 Josef Cerny (Cze) CCC Team 0:19:04
56 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) CCC Team 0:19:15
57 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:19:20
58 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:19:36
59 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:19:38
60 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:19:42
61 Andrey Amador (CRc) Team Ineos 0:20:40
62 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale 0:21:47
63 Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:22:01
64 Andrea Pasqualon (Ita) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:22:06
65 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:22:23
66 David Gonzalez Lopez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:22:27
67 Ibon Ruiz Sedano (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:22:32
68 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid 0:23:00
69 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:23:02
70 Jordi Lopez Caravaca (Spa) Kern Pharma 0:23:25
71 Nick Van der Lijke (Ned) Riwal Readynez 0:23:31
72 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain McLaren 0:24:02
73 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Team Ineos 0:24:18
74 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:24:42
75 Aritz Bagues Kalparsoro (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:25:25
76 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:25:41
77 Emil Nygaard Vinjebo (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:26:04
78 Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:26:35
79 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:27:36
80 Unai Cuadrado Ruiz de Gauna (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:29:15
81 Frederik Dombrowski (Ger) Bike Aid 0:30:42
82 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:31:10
83 Matteo Malucelli (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:31:12
84 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:31:48
85 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:33:29
86 Antonio Angulo Sampedro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:34:00
87 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team 0:34:55
88 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:35:08
89 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:35:33
90 Aime De Gendt (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:35:56
91 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:36:08
92 Piotr Havik (Ned) Riwal Readynez 0:36:11
93 Ibai Azurmendi Sagastibeltza (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:36:12
94 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:37:03
95 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
96 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 0:38:00
97 Alexander Evans (Aus) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:38:55
98 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:39:02
99 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:39:20
100 Alan Riou (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:40:25
101 Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis 0:42:17
102 William Clarke (Aus) Trek-Segafredo 0:44:28
103 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis 0:45:43
104 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:47:37
105 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:48:04
106 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis 0:48:10
107 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:48:28
108 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) CCC Team 0:50:45
109 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:51:04
110 Christoffer Lisson (Den) Riwal Readynez 0:52:07
111 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cofidis 0:52:18
112 Théo Delacroix (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert 0:53:03
113 Kevin Reza (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 0:55:08
114 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 0:56:34
115 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:57:36
116 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence 0:58:17
117 Kenneth Vanbilsen (Bel) Cofidis 0:59:38
118 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid 1:00:28
119 Arvid De Kleijn (Ned) Riwal Readynez 1:01:27
120 Sergio Nestor Araiz Michel (Spa) Kern Pharma 1:01:46
121 Dzmitry Zhyhunou (Blr) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:04:26
122 Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 1:05:30
123 Julien Morice (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 1:07:44
124 Marco Mathis (Ger) Cofidis 1:08:17
125 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Cofidis 1:12:28
126 Maxime Cam (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept 1:14:07
127 Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) CCC Team 1:17:27
128 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole 1:17:38
129 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93 1:17:40