Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 1 [FULL RACE]

February 11, 2021

Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 1 – Aubagne – Six-Fours-les-Plages : 179,3 km

The European road racing season will step up a gear this week with the sixth edition of the Tour de la Provence – the first ProSeries event of the year. The startlist is star-studded and the route is, dare we say, epic – so fasten your seatbelts and ready yourselves for what promises to be the most action-packed race of the season so far… The Tour de la Provence may be one of the newer events on the UCI’s European road racing calendar, but already it has managed to establish a name for itself as one of the toughest and most prestigious stage races outside of the WorldTour. With names like Thomas Voeckler and Nairo Quintana on its winners list, and climbs like Mont Ventoux and Col de l’Espigoulier in its routebook, it’s no surprise that the event has garnered so much respect in recent years.

Davide Ballerini sprinted to victory on stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence in Six-Fours-les-Plages at the end of a day animated by his Deceuninck-QuickStep teammate Julian Alaphilippe.

The world champion spent almost 70km off the front in the company of Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), but even after being caught barely 2,000m shy of the finish, he somehow conjured up the strength to play a part in leading out Ballerini’s sprint.

Ballerini still had plenty to do when the sprint unfurled, but he meted out his effort carefully on the windswept seafront in Six-Fours-les-Plages to come around French champion Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) to claim stage victory and the overall lead.

Démare, whose team had been so active in controlling the peloton throughout the stage, looked a likely winner when he bounded to the front with 150m remaining, opening a lead of a couple of bike lengths over the rest. Ballerini, however, stuck to his course along the barriers, and then accelerated around Démare within sight of the line to take the spoils.

Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) came home in third, ahead of Clement Venturini (AG2R Citroën) and neo-professional Matt Walls (Bora-Hansgrohe).

“For sure, I was so close to the barriers, but I found the space,” said Ballerini. “The first thing I have to say thanks to all the team, they did a very great job. The sprint wasn’t easy. When Démare started he took I think five or six metres. I tried to take his wheel, but it was very windy in the final, but I found the right speed and I won. The wind was coming from the right. For sure I didn’t have space on the left, so I needed to try to go to the right.”

The win was Ballerini’s fifth as a professional and his second since joining Deceuninck-QuickStep last season. For much of the afternoon, however, it was his Alaphilippe who looked best placed to deliver victory for the team. When Ciccone and Moscon forged clear over the climb of Montée du Brulat with some 69km still to go, the world champion bridged across forcefully.

They continued to collaborate smoothly thereafter, and their lead had stretched out to 1:15 by the time they took in the day’s final ascent of the Montée du Camp with 27km remaining. Alaphilippe was again first to the top there, and he appeared eager to put on a show in what was his first appearance in the rainbow jersey on French roads and his first race since crashing out of the Tour of Flanders last October.

The three leaders didn’t relent even when their buffer was cut to 25 seconds with 10km to go, and Alaphilippe placed another, defiant acceleration when the peloton closed to within touching distance inside the final 3km. Only Moscon could follow that last attack, which was eventually snuffed out a kilometre or so later.

Alaphilippe returned for one last encore beneath the flamme rouge, offering a turn on the front to help Kasper Asgreen as the Dane looked to tee up Ballerini for the sprint. That effort briefly appeared in vain when Démare ripped his way clear in the finishing straight, but Ballerini’s patience was rewarded with stage victory.

“The strategy was to try something just after 110km so we tried with Julian, and he was really, really good,” said Ballerini. “He was only caught with maybe 1.5km to go and he also gave a hand for the team, so I think he has really good legs for the general.”

How it unfolded

Like last week’s Étoile de Bessèges, the Tour de la Provence has a drawn a deeper field than normal thanks to the spate of cancellations and postponements outside of France during the opening months of this season. And, as in Bessèges, the intensity of the opening day’s racing was a reflection of the quality of its participants.

There was no gentle introduction to the season for riders making their debuts on Thursday, with the organisation routing the peloton out of Aubagne and immediately up the category 1 Col de l’Espigoulier. Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroën) was quickly to the fore, breaking clear in the company of Delio Fernandez (Delko), and they crested the summit with a lead of 4:30 over the peloton.

When the gap extended to five minutes soon afterwards, however, the peloton was shaken into action, with Groupama-FDJ, B&B Hotels and Arkéa-Samsic working to pare down that early deficit. By the approach to the Montée du Brulat after 110km, the peloton was within sight of the leading duo, and the race took on a new complexion when the Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Rémi Cavagna and Asgreen took it in turns to accelerate at the front.

Ciccone attacked over the summit of the climb with Moscon for company, and they were swiftly joined by Alaphilippe. A bunch sprint was the anticipated outcome before the start, but it was suddenly far from a foregone conclusion as the three strongmen in front combined to eek out an advantage in excess of one minute.

Even when Groupama-FDJ, UAE Team Emirates and B&B Hotels set about the business of marshalling a pursuit, Alaphilippe et al yielded little of their advantage. They still held 45 seconds as they approached the final 15km, but the scales finally tilted back in favour of the fastmen once the race hit the coast.

Ballerini proved the quickest to claim the stage honours and the striking leader’s jersey, and he carries a margin of 4 seconds over Démare into stage 2. All eyes, however, will be on the rainbow jersey of Alaphilippe, who picked up an intermediate sprint bonus to lie 5th overall, 7 seconds off the lead.

“On Mont Ventoux, for sure I’ll be dropped,” said Ballerini, casting his mind ahead to the weekend. “But we have Julian, the world champion. He’s shown already he has the legs to win this race.”

Results :
1 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:43:23
2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
4 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
5 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
6 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
7 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
8 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
9 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
10 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
11 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
12 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
13 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
14 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
15 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
16 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
17 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
18 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
19 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
20 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
21 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
22 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
23 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
24 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
25 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
26 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
27 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
28 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
29 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
30 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
31 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
32 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
33 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
34 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
35 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
36 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
37 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
38 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
39 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
40 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
41 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko
42 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
43 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
44 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
45 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
46 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
47 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
48 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
49 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
50 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
51 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
52 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
53 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie
54 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
55 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:14
56 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:15
57 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
58 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:21
59 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
60 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
61 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
62 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
63 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
64 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
65 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
66 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:29
67 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:33
68 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:36
69 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:39
70 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
71 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
72 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
73 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
74 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
75 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
76 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:44
77 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:48
78 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
79 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
80 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
81 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
82 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko
83 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
84 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:00:51
85 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:56
86 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:01:00
87 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:07
88 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
89 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
90 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
91 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
92 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
93 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
94 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
95 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
96 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko
97 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
98 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
99 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
100 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
101 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
102 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
103 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
104 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
105 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie
106 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos
107 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
108 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
109 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
110 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
111 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
112 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
113 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
114 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
115 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
116 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:20
117 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
118 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
119 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:53
120 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
121 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:04
122 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
123 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:23
124 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:13
125 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:04:27
126 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:04:41
127 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos
128 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
129 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
130 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
131 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
132 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
133 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:06:58
134 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:00
135 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
136 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:54
DNF Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:43:13
2 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:04
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:06
4 Lilian Calmejane (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
5 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:07
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:09
7 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:10
9 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
11 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
12 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
13 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
14 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
15 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
16 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
17 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
18 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
19 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
20 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
21 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
22 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
23 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
24 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
25 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
26 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
27 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
28 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
29 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
30 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
31 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
32 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
33 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
34 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
35 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
36 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
37 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
38 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
39 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
40 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
41 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
42 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
43 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko
44 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
45 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
46 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
47 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
48 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
49 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
50 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
51 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
52 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
53 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
54 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie
55 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
56 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
57 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
58 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
59 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
60 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
61 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
62 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
63 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
64 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
65 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
66 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
67 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
68 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko
69 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ
70 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
71 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:29
72 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:31
73 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
74 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
75 Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
76 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
77 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
78 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
79 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:00:39
80 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:00:58
81 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
82 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
83 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
84 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
85 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
86 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:01:01
87 Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:01:10
88 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:01:17
89 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
90 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
91 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
92 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
93 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
94 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
95 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
96 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
97 Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko
98 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
99 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
100 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
101 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
102 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
103 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
104 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
105 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
106 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie
107 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos
108 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
109 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
110 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
111 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
112 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
113 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
114 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
115 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
116 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
117 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:30
118 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
119 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
120 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:03
121 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious
122 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko 0:02:08
123 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:14
124 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:33
125 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:04:37
126 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:04:51
127 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos
128 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
129 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
130 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
131 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
132 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
133 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:07:08
134 Ivan Centrone (Lux) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:07:09
135 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:07:10
136 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:04
137 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:13:34
138 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM