Sarthe-Pays de la Loire 2022 – Stage 1 [LAST 15 KM] (french)

April 5, 2022

Sarthe-Pays de la Loire 2022 – Stage 1 – Mamers – Mamers : 192,3 km

The Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire (English: Circuit of Sarthe) is an early-season short road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Between 1953 and 1974 it was an amateur race, becoming a professional race in 1975.

Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) won the opening stage of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe – Pays de la Loire, taking a sprint finish from the 10-rider breakaway.

Pedersen held off Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroën) for the victory on stage 1, while third place was taken by Axel Zingle (Cofidis).

Stage 1 saw four riders establish the early breakaway: Alexander Kamp (Trek-Segafedo), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Alexis Gougeard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM), Maël Guégan (U Nantes Atlantique). The foursome pushed out for a lead of three minutes, with Guégan scooping up the KOM points on the three categorised climbs that were crowded in the first half of the 192.3km stage.

Ineos Grenadiers worked at the front of the peloton to close down the gap, and soon put two riders in an eight-rider group after 120km had been completed: Filippo Ganna and Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers), Pederson, Cosnefroy, Zingle, Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Alexis Gougeard (B&B, Hotels p/b KTM), and Kevin Vauquelin (Arkéa-Samsic). They were joined with less than 32km to go by Alexander Kamp (Trek-Segafredo) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) for a solid 10-rider front group of heavy hitters.

On the sixth and final circuit in Mamers with 16km to go, the group had an advantage of 1:15 seconds that was cut in half as the group make the final ascent of the 4.4 per cent climb mid-way through the lap.

Pedersen launched an attack with two kilometers to the line. His move was countered by his breakaway companions, minus Kamp, and then he made a final move on the downhill finish.

“With 2km to go I was thinking I could go on the attack instead and make the others chase. Luke Plapp from Ineos didn’t give me a very long leash though. I got back to the group with 1.5 kms to go and recovered a bit for the sprint,” Pedersen said..

“The last guy attacked before the final corner with 700 metres to go and I had to close it. In that situation there’s nothing else you can do but ride hard and hope for the best. I still believed in my sprint, even If I had to spend energy closing the gap, I thought I could still win. It was hard, but I managed to close him in time, take a few breaths, and then go for the sprint.”

Pedersen continued aggressive racing that had landed him an eighth-place finish at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday. With the victory, his third of the season, he takes both the race leader’s jersey and the points jersey.

“Since the start of the season, it was in my plan to race this after Flanders. My coach thought it was a good idea, and I agreed. This way, I get to do more racing and then just have one training block afterward before Roubaix,” explained Mads. “It was a hard and long day, and the weather was not super nice. It was not easy [in the break] as we did not have a lot of time. It was hard racing all the way. The peloton was chasing us hard from behind and didn’t give us much time and that made it tough.”

Results :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 4:32:04
2 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
3 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
4 Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
5 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
6 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:05
9 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:00:07
10 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:21
11 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
12 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
13 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies
14 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
15 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
16 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
17 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:49
18 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
19 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
20 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
21 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
22 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix
23 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
24 Milan Fretin (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
25 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
26 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
27 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
28 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
29 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
30 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
31 Filippo Baroncini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
32 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
33 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
34 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
35 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
36 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
37 Antoine Raugel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
38 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
39 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost
40 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Andrii Ponomar (Ukr) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
42 Mattia Bais (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
43 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
44 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
45 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
46 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
47 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
48 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
49 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies
50 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
51 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
52 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis
53 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM
54 Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
55 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
56 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Trek-Segafredo
57 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
58 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
59 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
60 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
61 Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies
62 Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Continental
63 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
64 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
65 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
66 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
67 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
68 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
69 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
70 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
71 Axel Mariault (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
72 Romain Hardy (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
73 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
74 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
75 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
76 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:05
77 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:09
78 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
79 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Cofidis
80 Bram Welten (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:13
81 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:17
82 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:04:47
83 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
84 Lars Boven (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:05:34
85 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team
86 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
87 Mick van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
88 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
89 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
90 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
91 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
92 Mael Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:13:07
93 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:14:50
94 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
95 Gabriele Benedetti (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
96 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:24:03
97 Rait Ärm (Est) Groupama-FDJ Continental
98 Louis Richard (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
99 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
100 Paul Hennequin (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
101 Leonardo Marchiori (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
OTL Trym Bjørner Westgaard Holther (Nor) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNS Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Kamiel Bonneu (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Marti Vigo Del Arco (Spa) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNF Leo Danes (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Julien Amadori (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
DNF Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 4:31:51
2 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:07
3 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
4 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:12
5 Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:13
6 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:00:14
9 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:00:17
10 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:29
11 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:00:34
12 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
13 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
14 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies
15 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
16 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
17 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:01:02
18 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
19 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
20 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
21 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
22 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix
23 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
24 Milan Fretin (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
25 Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
26 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
27 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
28 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
29 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
30 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
31 Filippo Baroncini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
32 Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
33 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
34 Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
35 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
36 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
37 Antoine Raugel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
38 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
39 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost
40 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
41 Andrii Ponomar (Ukr) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
42 Mattia Bais (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
43 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
44 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
45 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
46 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
47 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
48 Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
49 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies
50 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
51 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
52 Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis
53 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM
54 Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
55 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
56 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Trek-Segafredo
57 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
58 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
59 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
60 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
61 Peter Sagan (Svk) TotalEnergies
62 Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Continental
63 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
64 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
65 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
66 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
67 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
68 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
69 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
70 Tim Declercq (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
71 Axel Mariault (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
72 Romain Hardy (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
73 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
74 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
75 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
76 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:18
77 Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:01:22
78 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
79 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Cofidis
80 Bram Welten (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:26
81 Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:30
82 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:05:00
83 Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
84 Lars Boven (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:05:47
85 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team
86 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
87 Mick van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
88 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
89 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
90 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
91 Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
92 Mael Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:13:20
93 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:15:03
94 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
95 Gabriele Benedetti (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
96 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:24:16
97 Rait Ärm (Est) Groupama-FDJ Continental
98 Louis Richard (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
99 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
100 Paul Hennequin (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
101 Leonardo Marchiori (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli