Sarthe-Pays de la Loire 2022 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE] (french)

April 8, 2022

Sarthe-Pays de la Loire 2022 – Stage 4 – La Chapelle-Saint-Aubin – La Chapelle-Saint-Aubin : 136,4 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.

Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) won the final stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe and secured overall victory after a crash in the wind and rain with just four kilometres to go took out Mads Pedersen.

The Trek-Segafredo rider won two stages and seemed set to win the overall classification, only for the crash to end his chances. He got up and finished the stage but was several minutes down on Kooij.

The 20-year-old Dutch sprinter avoided the crash and then raced to the finish with Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix). He refused to work on the front but then won the sprint, unsure if he had won overall.

Meurisse banged his handlebars in frustration, while Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) won the sprint for third place half a minute behind.

Kooij was declared the overall winner but with race judges scrambling to check the time gaps to confirm the final results.

The effects of Storm Diego meant the concluding stage was reduced by 43km, and the shortened distance of 136km naturally lent itself to a rapid opening phase. After a flurry of attacks, a break of nine riders forged clear of the peloton, though the peloton was reluctant to give a move with three Alpecin-Fenix riders too much leeway.

Clément Carisey (Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Métropole), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies), Nicolas Debeaumarche (St Michel-Auber 93), Jimmy Janssens, Scott Thwaites, Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Fenix), Lars Boven (Jumbo-Visma) and Ward Vanhoof (Sport Vlaanderen Baloise) were never allowed to build a lead of more than two minutes as Trek-Segafredo and Arkea-Samsic marshalled the chase behind.

Those nine riders still led as the race hit four laps of the 9.6km finishing circuit around La Chapelle-Saint-Aubin, but their advantage was inexorably whittled down as the miles ticked by.

The escapees were caught on the final lap and the stage looked set for a bunch finish, with the on-form Mads Pedersen the obvious favourite to emerge with the honours. A crash with 4km to go, however, changed the complexion of the race. Twenty or so riders went down, but Kooij and Meurisse managed to avoid the chaos and fight out the stage honours between them.

Kooij held his nerve despite pressure from Meurisse to contribute. The Dutchman sprinted to stage victory and, unbeknownst to himself, overall honours too.

Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroen) took second overall at 8 seconds, while Meurisse placed third at 14 seconds.

Results :
1 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 3:11:34
2 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:15
4 Mick van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma
5 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
6 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
7 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis
8 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
9 Bram Welten (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
10 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:00:39
11 Mattia Bais (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
12 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:51
13 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:55
14 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
15 Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:01:15
16 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
17 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team 0:01:20
18 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
19 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:02:02
20 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
21 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
22 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:02:16
23 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:03:03
24 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost
25 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
27 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:03:26
28 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
29 Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
30 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:03:49
31 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team
32 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:04:14
33 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:04:23
34 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:04:32
35 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
36 Andrii Ponomar (Ukr) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
37 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
38 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
39 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:05:00
40 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
41 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
42 Mael Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
43 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost
44 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
45 Antoine Raugel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
46 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
47 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
48 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
49 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:05:30
50 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis
51 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:05:46
52 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
53 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:05:50
54 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:24
55 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:07:26
56 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:07:32
57 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
58 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:07:37
59 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
60 Romain Hardy (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
61 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:07:49
62 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:41
63 Lars Boven (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:10:37
64 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team
DNF Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
DNF Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
DNF Rait Ärm (Est) Groupama-FDJ Continental
DNF Benjamin Thomas (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Davide Cimolai (Ita) Cofidis
DNS Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost
DNF Bert Van Lerberghe (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
DNS Stan Van Tricht (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
DNF Filippo Baroncini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alex Kirsch (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
DNF Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
DNS Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
DNS Lawrence Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
DNS Marc Sarreau (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
DNF Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
DNF Alex Colman (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise
DNF Fabio Van Den Bossche (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
DNF Gabriele Benedetti (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNF Leonardo Marchiori (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNF Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
DNF Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
DNF Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
DNF Thomas Boudat (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
DNF Emmanuel Morin (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique
DNF Paul Hennequin (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur

Final General Classification :
1 Olav Kooij (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 15:49:52
2 Benoit Cosnefroy (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:08
3 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:00:14
4 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:00:35
5 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:08
6 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:09
7 Alexis Renard (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:15
8 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:27
9 Thibault Guernalec (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:01:32
10 Mattia Bais (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:01:49
11 Bram Welten (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:55
12 Paul Penhoet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ Continental 0:02:03
13 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:02:08
14 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroen Team
15 Laurent Pichon (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:02:13
16 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:02:27
17 Sander De Pestel (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:03:02
18 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:03:15
19 Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:03:19
20 Julien Simon (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:03:23
21 Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education-EasyPost 0:03:49
22 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:03:54
23 Ben Healy (Irl) EF Education-EasyPost 0:04:16
24 Mads Pedersen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:30
25 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
27 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:04:57
28 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers 0:05:05
29 Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:05:11
30 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:05:14
31 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:05:16
32 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:05:20
33 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:05:21
34 Scott Thwaites (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:36
35 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:05:47
36 Attilio Viviani (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:05:48
37 Mick van Dijke (Ned) Jumbo-Visma 0:06:00
38 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:06:09
39 Clément Carisey (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:06:11
40 Andrii Ponomar (Ukr) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:06:17
41 Eddy Fine (Fra) Cofidis 0:06:18
42 Alan Riou (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:06:21
43 Antoine Raugel (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:06:22
44 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:06:23
45 Ward Vanhoof (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:32
46 Jordan Jegat (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:06:34
47 Gilles De Wilde (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise 0:06:46
48 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:06:50
49 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:07:17
50 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost 0:08:10
51 Robert Stannard (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix 0:08:17
52 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:08:33
53 Rick Pluimers (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:09:40
54 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:10:00
55 Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:10:05
56 Romain Hardy (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:10:36
57 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:13:22
58 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:14:23
59 Cameron Wurf (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:20:14
60 Brandon Rivera Vargas (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:22:58
61 Lars Boven (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:26:06
62 Markus Hoelgaard (Nor) Trek-Segafredo 0:27:05
63 Mael Guegan (Fra) Team U Nantes Atlantique 0:32:07
64 Owen Geleijn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Development Team 0:33:23