Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 4 [LAST 10 KM]

February 14, 2021

Tour de la Provence 2021 – Stage 4 – Avignon – Salon-de-Provence : 163,2 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.

Bahrain-Victorious lived up to their new name as their sprinter Phil Bauhaus edged out double stage winner Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep) in a close sprint finish on the fourth and final stage of the Tour de la Provence.

Despite leaving it late to catch the break of the day, the stage ended in a bunch sprint, with Bauhaus defeating Ballerini by around half a wheel-length, and Nacer Bouhanni (Arkea-Samsic) also close behind in third.

On a quiet day for the GC riders, stage 3 winner and overall leader Ivan Sosa (INeos Grenadiers) finished safely in the peloton to seal overall victory.

There was some change on the podium, though, as Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) gained enough seconds on an early intermediate sprint to move from third to second overall, swapping places with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

Given the presence of Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and the two stage wins already achieved by Ballerini this week, Bauhaus was something of a surprise winner, but seemed in excellent form. Although Ballerini appeared ideally placed when he opened up his sprint following a lead-out from Deceuninck-QuickStep teammates Alaphilippe and Zdenek Stybar, Bauhaus managed to come from behind on the right-hand side of the road to pip him to the line.

Bouhanni chose the other side of the road to make his sprint, and remonstrated with Ballerini for supposedly squeezing him into the barriers, but the Italian did not appear to deviate from his sprinting line.

“It was a super-fast final” a delighted Bauhaus explained at the finish. “The team did really really well today. I wanted this result really bad. I went for it, and I was happy I could pass the guys at the front

“I knew I needed to be in front with 600 meters to go, then I was strong enough to finish it off. It’s always good as a sprinter to win races. But I’m also happy for the team, it takes some pressure off us now we have that win. It gives us confidence for the next races.”

Despite the flat parcours, a sprint was not always a foregone conclusion, as a four-man break that escaped at the start of the race proved difficult to catch.

The peloton appeared to have the break under control for most of the day, but they held on stubbornly into the final 10km. Up until within the final 3km it looked like they still had a chance of surviving, but the catch was eventually made 2km from the line.

That left Bauhaus to sprint for the stage win, while Sosa managed to avoid an incident to claim overall victory.

How it unfolded

Beginning in Avignon and finishing with a circuit starting and ending in Salon-de-Provence, the fourth and final stage was the flattest stage of the race, meaning a bunch sprint was widely expected.

One of the things that could complicate matters for the sprinters was the possibility of strong crosswinds, but, although again very cold, the wind remained calm throughout the day.

There was nevertheless some movement in the GC, as Alaphilippe targeted the first intermediate sprint of the day 16.5km into the stage. By being first over the line he picked up three seconds, enough to see him leapfrog Bernal into second overall.

Things settled down after this early flurry of activity, allowing four riders to get up the road and form the day’s break. They were: Tony Gallopin (AG2R Citroën Team), Luis Mas Bonet (Movistar Team), Andreas Leknessund (Team DSM) and Jérémy Leveau (Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole).

The quartet did open up a gap of somewhere around five minutes, before the Ineos Grenadiers-led peloton pegged them at around 3:30 for most of the first half of the stage.

When the gap went back up to over four minutes after the riders crossed the finish line in Salon-de-Provence for the first time, Arkea-Samsic and Groupama-FDJ began to contribute to the pace-making, eyeing up a win for their respective sprinters Bouhanni and Démare. Their work began the inevitable process of bringing back the break, who were quickly brought back to within two minutes prior to the third and final small climb of the day, the category-3 La Roquemartine.

Having picked up the most points over the previous two category three climbs, Leknessund again summited the climb first, moving him up to second overall in the mountains classification behind Filippo Conca (Lotto-Soudal), who wins the competition.

With the advantage down to 1:20 with 25km to ride, Mas chose to chance it alone, breaking clear from his three breakaway companions. He opened up a gap of 20 seconds, but the trio behind continued to work well together and brought him back shortly after the 10km-to-go marker.

Back in the bunch, Deceuninck-QuickStep had, having spent most of the day hidden in the bunch, joined the chase at the front of the peloton, helping to bring the gap down rapidly. However, their advantage steadied again in the final 10km, and only came down at a rate of two seconds per kilometre after the 5km to go point, so that they still had 13 seconds in hand with 3km to go.

At this point they finally ran out of steam, with the peloton swallowing them up one kilometre later to ensure a bunch sprint.

Results :
1 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 3:47:01
2 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
4 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
5 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal
6 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
7 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
8 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie
9 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko
10 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
11 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep
12 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
13 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
14 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
15 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
16 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
17 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
18 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
19 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo
20 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious
21 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie
22 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
24 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
25 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
26 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
27 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM
28 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
29 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic
30 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
31 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
32 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko
33 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
34 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
35 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM
36 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
37 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
38 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
39 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
40 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
41 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis
42 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
43 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko
44 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
45 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
46 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
47 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
48 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM
49 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
50 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
51 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie
52 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
53 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
54 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
55 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
56 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team
57 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
58 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
59 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious
60 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos
61 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
62 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
63 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
64 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal
65 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious
66 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
67 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers
68 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
69 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
70 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
71 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
72 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
73 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
74 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
75 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
76 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
77 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
78 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team
79 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
80 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
81 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
82 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
83 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
84 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal
85 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious
86 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
87 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team
88 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
89 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie
90 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
91 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
92 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
93 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
94 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
95 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
96 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
97 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
98 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
99 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos
100 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
101 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
102 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ
103 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
104 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
105 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
106 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal
107 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:46:00
108 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe
109 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:00:51
110 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis
111 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
112 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
113 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
114 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team
115 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep
116 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team
117 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team
118 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko
119 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
120 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
121 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie
122 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
123 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
124 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo
125 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
126 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo
127 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
128 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers
129 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM
130 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:09
131 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:15
132 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:03:13
133 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:05:32
DNF Jérémy Lecroq (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:19:00
DNF Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Delko

Final General Classification :
1 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 17:00:17
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:00:18
3 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:19
4 Wouter Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:39
5 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:57
6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo
7 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:58
8 Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep
9 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
10 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
11 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:11
12 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:28
13 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
14 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
15 Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Victorious 0:02:00
16 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team 0:02:18
17 Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa) Ineos Grenadiers
18 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
19 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis 0:02:29
20 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:02:39
21 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
22 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:03:06
23 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:03:42
24 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
25 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:44
26 Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:52
27 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:54
28 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:04:08
29 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
30 Ion Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:04:13
31 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:04:22
32 Abner González Rivera (PuR) Movistar Team 0:04:26
33 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:04:47
34 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:04:52
35 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Ineos Grenadiers 0:04:55
36 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:04:56
37 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech 0:05:20
38 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:05:30
39 Giovanni Aleotti (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:46
40 Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:53
41 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie 0:06:09
42 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:06:11
43 Sergio Samitier Samitier (Spa) Movistar Team 0:06:51
44 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:07:34
45 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 0:08:03
46 Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team 0:08:28
47 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:08:48
48 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:09:27
49 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:56
50 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:10:10
51 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:10:16
52 Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis 0:10:24
53 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:10:32
54 Ben Swift (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:10:33
55 Miles Scotson (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
56 Franck Bonnamour (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:10:36
57 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:10:49
58 Mauro Schmid (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:10:58
59 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:11:17
60 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:11:24
61 Alessandro Covi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:11:34
62 Florian Vermeersch (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:10
63 Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:12:24
64 Julien Simon (Fra) Total Direct Energie
65 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis 0:12:27
66 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:12:42
67 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:12:44
68 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:12:56
69 Edward Dunbar (Irl) Ineos Grenadiers 0:13:18
70 Sven Erik Bystrøm (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:13:31
71 Frederik Frison (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:13:47
72 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:13:49
73 Fred Wright (GBr) Bahrain Victorious 0:14:02
74 Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:14:20
75 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:14:25
76 Fabien Grellier (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:14:26
77 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:14:50
78 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:14:56
79 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team 0:14:59
80 Matteo Trentin (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:23
81 Michael Schär (Swi) AG2R Citroën Team 0:15:35
82 Julien Trarieux (Fra) Delko 0:15:52
83 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:16:09
84 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:16:11
85 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team
86 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:16:17
87 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis 0:17:05
88 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:17:07
89 John Degenkolb (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:17:15
90 Andreas Leknessund (Nor) Team DSM 0:18:00
91 Koen de Kort (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:18:14
92 Matthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:18:52
93 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:19:15
94 Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep
95 Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:19:28
96 Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:21:14
97 Karel Vacek (Cze) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:21:17
98 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:21:40
99 Max Kanter (Ger) Team DSM 0:21:54
100 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:22:07
101 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:35
102 Niccolò Bonifazio (Ita) Total Direct Energie 0:22:44
103 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Groupama-FDJ 0:23:53
104 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) Cofidis 0:24:18
105 Damien Gaudin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:24:38
106 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:24:55
107 Clément Russo (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:25:03
108 Filippo Conca (Ita) Lotto Soudal 0:25:04
109 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:25:37
110 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:26:11
111 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious 0:26:18
112 Delio Fernandez Cruz (Spa) Delko 0:26:45
113 Yves Lampaert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:28:09
114 Jens Debusschere (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:28:53
115 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:29:05
116 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:29:18
117 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole 0:29:52
118 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko 0:30:50
119 Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Delko 0:31:17
120 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:31:34
121 Matteo Moschetti (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:31:40
122 Kiel Reijnen (USA) Trek-Segafredo 0:32:03
123 Louis Louvet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:32:25
124 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:32:42
125 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Groupama-FDJ 0:32:55
126 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Team DSM 0:33:36
127 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:33:44
128 Emils Liepins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:34:34
129 Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:35:24
130 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:36:02
131 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Total Direct Energie 0:37:20
132 Clément Davy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:39:10
133 Niklas Märkl (Ger) Team DSM 0:40:33