Tour de la Provence 2020 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

February 13, 2020

Tour de la Provence 2020 – Stage 1 – Châteaurenard – Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer : 149 km

The Tour de la Provence is an early-season bicycle stage race in the Provence region of France. It is organized by southern French newspaper La Provence, which serves as the race’s title sponsor for its first three years. It is held in February, as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour calendar.

Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) won stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence, beating Jakub Mareczko (CCC) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) in a bunch sprint in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.

Mareczko led into the gentle final bend but Bouhanni displayed a fine turn of speed in the closing metres to come past the Italian and claim his second victory of the 2020 season.

Bouhanni joined Arkea-Samsic this winter after failing to land a single win during a troubled final season at Cofidis. The Frenchman has begun the new campaign on an upbeat note, and he carried that form into the opening stage of the Tour de la Provence in the south of France.

Pierre Barbier (Nippo Delko Provence) came from a long way back to place fourth in the bunch sprint ahead of Hugo Hofstetter (Israel Start-Up Nation), while Chris Lawless (Ineos) took sixth.

“In the sprint, I was still a long way back with 300m to go and I had to make a big effort to come back up and dispute the sprint. I followed Nizzolo’s wheel into the final corner and then I continued with my effort,” Bouhanni said afterwards.

“It’s a long time since I’ve won two races this early in the season. Maxime Bouet rode for me in the finale and Warren [Bargui] also did great work to help to bring back the break.”

The stage was animated by a four-man move comprising Johan Jacobs (Movistar Team), British neo-pro Charles Quarterman (Trek-Segafredo), Romain Combaud (Nippo Delko One Provence) and Louis Louvet (St-Michel-Auber 93). The escapees forged clear in the opening kilometres and established a maximum gap of 3:30 before the sprinters’ teams took up the reins of pursuit.

The quartet had a buffer of two minutes with 50km remaining and still had a minute in hand with 15km to go, but the efforts of Deceuninck-QuickStep saw them swept up at the three-kilometre to go banner.

Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) briefly opened a gap over the peloton inside the final two kilometres but he was quickly brought to heel by a determined delegation from Team Ineos, who were eager to set up Lawless for an attempt at the bunch sprint.

No one team was able to seize control of the lead-out in the closing kilometre. Nizzolo opened his sprint from distance but mistimed his effort and was overtaken by a flying Mareczko with 150 metres remaining.

Bouhanni, whose Arkea-Samsic team has GC aspirations with French champion Warren Barguil and Nairo Quintana this week, was surfing the wheels in search of victory in the finale, and he timed his attempt perfectly to come past Mareczko to claim the stage honours.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) were among those starting their seasons on an overcast and chilly afternoon in the Camargue and both riders finished safely in the main peloton with the rest of the general classification favourites.

It was Pinot’s first appearance since abandoning the 2019 Tour de France and Quintana’s debut outing in Arkea-Samsic colours. Both men will look to offer an early indication of their form when the race visits Mont Ventoux on Saturday.

Bouhanni carries the overall lead into Friday’s hilly leg from Aubagne to La Ciotat. The next two days are more suited to his teammates, but Bouhanni and the fast men will expect another opportunity on the final stage in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday.

“My objective now is the GC with Nairo and Warren,” Bouhanni said. “But there’s always the final stage.”

Results :
1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 3:16:35
2 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
4 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
5 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
6 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
7 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
8 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
9 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb
10 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
11 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) EF Pro Cycling
12 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
13 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
14 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
15 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
16 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
17 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
18 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
19 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
20 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
21 Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
22 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
23 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
24 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
25 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Pro Cycling
26 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
27 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
28 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
29 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
30 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
31 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
32 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
33 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
34 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
35 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
36 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
37 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
38 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
39 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
40 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Pro Cycling
41 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
42 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
43 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
44 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
45 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
46 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
47 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team
48 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
49 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
50 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
51 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
52 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
53 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
54 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
55 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
56 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
57 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
58 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
59 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
60 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
61 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
62 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
63 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
64 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
65 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team
66 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
67 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
68 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling
69 Kinfe Hailemichael (Eth) Nippo Delko Provence
70 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling
71 Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
72 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
73 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
74 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
75 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
76 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
77 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
78 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
79 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
80 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
81 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
82 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
83 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
84 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling
85 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
86 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) EF Pro Cycling
87 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
88 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
89 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
90 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
91 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
92 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis
93 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
94 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
95 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
96 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
97 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
98 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie
99 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
100 William Barta (USA) CCC Team
101 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
102 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
103 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
104 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
105 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
106 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
107 Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
108 Leonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
109 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
110 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
111 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
112 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
113 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
114 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
115 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
116 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
117 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
118 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
119 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
120 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
121 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
122 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
123 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) NTT Pro Cycling
124 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
125 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
126 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
127 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
128 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
129 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
130 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
131 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
132 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
133 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
134 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
135 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
136 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
137 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
138 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
139 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
140 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:47
141 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:49
142 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:58
143 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:16
144 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:25
145 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:54

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 3:16:25
2 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) CCC Team 0:00:04
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling 0:00:06
4 Charles Quarterman (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
5 Johan Jacobs (Swi) Movistar Team
6 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:00:07
7 Romain Combaud (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:00:09
8 Pierre Barbier (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence 0:00:10
9 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
10 Christopher Lawless (GBr) Team Ineos
11 Timothy Dupont (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
12 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quickstep
13 Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb
14 Quinn Simmons (USA) Trek-Segafredo
15 Magnus Cort Nielsen (Den) EF Pro Cycling
16 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
17 Nico Denz (Ger) Team Sunweb
18 Luca Mozzato (Ita) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
19 Gabriel Cullaigh (GBr) Movistar Team
20 Luis Guillermo Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
21 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
22 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
23 Julien Duval (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
24 Damien Touze (Fra) Cofidis
25 Bryan Alaphilippe (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
26 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb
27 Sebastian Mora Vedri (Spa) Movistar Team
28 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team
29 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Pro Cycling
30 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
31 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana Pro Team
32 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
33 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
34 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
35 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
36 Yoann Offredo (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
37 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
38 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-Up Nation
39 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
40 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
41 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
42 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
43 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
44 Sean Bennett (USA) EF Pro Cycling
45 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos
46 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
47 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
48 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
49 Norman Vahtra (Est) Israel Start-Up Nation
50 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team Sunweb
51 Fausto Masnada (Ita) CCC Team
52 Jaakko Hanninen (Fin) AG2R la Mondiale
53 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
54 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
55 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
56 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) Astana Pro Team
57 Jesper Hansen (Den) Cofidis
58 Rémy Rochas (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
59 Juri Hollmann (Ger) Movistar Team
60 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team
61 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
62 Julien El Fares (Fra) Nippo Delko Provence
63 Chris Harper (Aus) Team Jumbo-Visma
64 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
65 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Nippo Delko Provence
66 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
67 Owain Doull (GBr) Team Ineos
68 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) EF Pro Cycling
69 Michal Paluta (Pol) CCC Team
70 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
71 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
72 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling
73 Kinfe Hailemichael (Eth) Nippo Delko Provence
74 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling
75 Winner Andrew Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
76 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
77 Eduard Prades Reverter (Spa) Movistar Team
78 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team
79 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep
80 Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
81 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team Sunweb
82 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Team Ineos
83 Frederik Backaert (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
84 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Team Ineos
85 Pierre Idjouadiene (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
86 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
87 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Pro Cycling
88 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
89 Luis Ricardo Villalobos Hernandez (Mex) EF Pro Cycling
90 Thomas Degand (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
91 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
92 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
93 Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep
94 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis
95 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team
96 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
97 José Gonçalves (Por) Nippo Delko Provence
98 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
99 Davide Villella (Ita) Movistar Team
100 Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie
101 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
102 William Barta (USA) CCC Team
103 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
104 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
105 Jan Hirt (Cze) CCC Team
106 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Ineos
107 Jeremy Bellicaud (Fra) Circus-Wanty Gobert
108 Florian Maitre (Fra) Total Direct Energie
109 Leonardo Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
110 Julien Vermote (Bel) Cofidis
111 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
112 Marlon Gaillard (Fra) Total Direct Energie
113 Bert De Backer (Bel) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
114 Nicola Conci (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
115 Gijs Leemreize (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
116 Jeremy Cabot (Fra) Total Direct Energie
117 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb
118 Christophe Masson (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
119 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep
120 Ian Garrison (USA) Deceuninck-Quickstep
121 Ludwig De Winter (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
122 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) NTT Pro Cycling
123 Michal Golas (Pol) Team Ineos
124 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) NTT Pro Cycling
125 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma
126 Rasmus Tiller (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
127 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma
128 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
129 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
130 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Total Direct Energie
131 Baptiste Constantin (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
132 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
133 Kevin Van Melsen (Bel) Circus-Wanty Gobert
134 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) Natura4ever-Roubaix-Lille Metropole
135 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
136 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
137 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
138 Danilo Wyss (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling
139 Matthias Brändle (Aut) Israel Start-Up Nation
140 Bram Welten (Ned) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:57
141 Alexis Renard (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:59
142 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:08
143 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:26
144 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:01:35
145 Anthony Maldonado (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:04