Tour de la Provence 2022 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

February 11, 2022

Tour de la Provence 2022 – Stage 1 – Istres – Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer : 151,8 km

Since its inaugural edition in 2016, the Tour de la Provence has fallen in February and served up an opportunity for pro riders from all over the world to kick start their road racing seasons and blow away the winter cobwebs. The four-day stage race, which takes place largely within the mountainous Provence region of southeast France, was built from the ashes of the Tour du Vaucluse and the Tour du Sud-Est – merging aspects of the two former races into one bigger and better event. Despite it being one of the youngest races on the UCI’s ProSeries calendar, it has quickly become one of the most prestigious stage races in France.

Elia Viviani won stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence to Les-Saintes-Maries-de-La-Mer in the Camargue region of the south of France after crosswinds sparked echelons and a major shake-out amongst the overall contenders.

Twenty-seven riders eventually emerged in a multi-team attack from Ineos Grenadiers, QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and Akrea-Samsic with 80km to race. They used the strong wind to spit out other riders and opened a gap that the peloton was unable to close.

Maciej Bodnar (TotalEnergies) made a solo attack in the final eight kilometres but Filippo Ganna closed him down and then Luke Rowe set-up Viviani for the tailwind sprint.

Viviani kicked away to victory out of the final corner, with Sep Vanmarke (Israel-Premier Tech) only able to follow him over the line, with Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) taking third after an aggressive ride by the world champion.

Alaphilippe picked up some bonus seconds during the stage but Ganna kept the race lead after dominating Thursday’s prologue time trial. He leads Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) by four seconds, with Samuele Battistella (Astana) third at 10 seconds.

Viviani has endured two lean years at Cofidis due to injury, a lack of an experienced lead-out and low morale but he appears back to his best and finished off some superb work by his teammates Richard Carapaz, Filippo Ganna and then Rowe.

“I’m happy to win again but it’s not so much about the new team. I ended last season with Cofidis really well and that’s important to approach the new season. Of course, I’m really happy to be back at Ineos. It’s really important for a sprinter to win at the start of the season,” Viviani explained.

“We knew I had good form at Valenciana, I was 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so the big goal in Provence was to win the first race of the season. Now it’s done, so now we keep going.

“It was not an easy, flat stage because of the wind. We moved really well and we have really experienced guys for the Classics like Luke Rowe, so when we saw that there were four up front, including Richie (Carapaz) for the GC, that was good. Then we just kept pushing. We were happy that there weren’t any other sprinters. The guys did an amazing job. Ganna closed down Bodnar when he attacked in the final kilometres and then Luke Rowe did a perfect lead-out for me. I have to thank all the team today.”

How it unfolded
With the wind blowing across the south of France before the start, the riders and their directeur sportif knew the 152km stage from Istres to Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer was going to be far more than a day for the sprinters.

After an early flurry of attacks, Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur) forced their way clear of the peloton. They were joined by Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93) after a chase to create the break of the day.

They went over the early climb and rode to the spectacular Roman city of Arles together but the wind was increasing as they neared the exposed salt marshes of the Camargue.

With 80km to go the rider knew it was the moment to attack. Ineos Grenadiers and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl suddenly occupied the front positions, sparking panic behind them as riders fought for shelter and piece of the road. However, there was only enough room for 30 or so riders, with a crash sparking a split and opening the gap.

TotalEnergies and Arkea-Samsic were there in numbers too protecting the overall hopes of Latour and Nairo Quintana, but Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) were amongst those who missed the split.

With the likes of Bodnar, Rowe and Ganna driving, the gap soon opened to a minute as Groupama-FDJ tried to save face and chase.

A few riders were spat out from the front group and 27 went clear ready for the showdown on the circuits of Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and the salt marshes.

The 27 were: Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe, Ilan Van Wilder, Louis Vervaeke (QuickStep-AlpaVinyl), Elia Viviani, Filippo Ganna, Richard Carapaz, Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers), Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Trek-Segafredo), Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Maciej Bodnar, Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), Martijn Tusveld (DSM), Sep Vanmarcke, Tom Van Asbroeck, Mads Würtz Schmidt (Israel Premier Tech), Stéphane Rossetto (St-Michel-Auber 93), Tom Mainguenaud (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole), Viktor Verschaeve (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (B&B Hôtels-KTM), Tristan Delacroix and Jean Goubert (Nice Métropole Côte d’Azur).

A notable absentee from this front group was 2021 winner Ivan Sosa (Movistar), while his teammate Gorka Izagirre abandoned after crashing in the chaos. Groupama-FDJ committed to the chase but couldn’t stop the gap rising to 1:30 as the wind turned into a tailwind and blew the race along the road at over 50km/h.

The rider reached Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer for the first time with 47km to race, with Alaphilippe winning the intermediate sprint to grab three extra seconds.

Aurelien Paret-Peintre was second in that intermediate sprint, with Louis Vervaeke third across the line, the riders knowing every second might count before Sunday’s mountain finish atop the Montagne de Lure.

Groupama-FDJ finally convinced Cofidis to help them with the chase but it was far too late and the French teams were left to embarrassingly argue about who was at fault.

Upfront the race was about the stage victory and the overall contenders limiting any time losses. Quintana had impressed the echelon and looked strong to the finish.

There were some exposed sections on the circuits but not enough and not in the right direction to split the group. Alaphilippe beat Latour to win the second intermediate sprint as Viviani studied the finish for the next to the line.

Strangely nobody tried to attack until eight kilometres to go when Bodnar made his move. He is a talented, power time trialist and surged away, as Latour let a gap and shouted at him to go for it. Carapaz tried to close him down but was outpowered by the exposed wind and suddenly a sprint seemed unlikely. Even Alaphilippe tried to go across to Bodnar, forcing the intervention of Ganna.

The Italian race leader was perhaps hoping to save himself to set up Viviani in the sprint but he began to do long turns on the front to bring the race back together. He managed to even drop Carapaz and the resort of the attack and he time trialled after Bodnar but eased up and closed the gap anyway before keeping the speed high into the final kilometre. It was an impressive show of power and prowess from the track and time trial champion and will be fascinating to see how he performs at Milan-San Remo and the cobbled Classics.

As the rider entered Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Rowe stepped up to play his part. He jumped on Latour’s late surge to give Viviani a perfect lead out to the final corner. The Italian then tucked low and fast and sprinted away from his rivals to give Ineos Grenadiers their second consecutive stage win.

Results :
1 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 3:17:58
2 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
3 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
4 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM
5 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
6 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
7 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo
8 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies
9 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
10 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
11 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
12 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
13 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
14 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
15 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
16 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
17 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:03
18 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
19 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation
20 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:07
21 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:16
22 Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:30
23 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies 0:00:34
24 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:28
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
26 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
27 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
28 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:09:34
29 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal
30 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
31 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
32 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
33 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
34 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies
35 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies
36 Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM
37 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
38 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies
39 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM
40 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM
41 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM
42 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
43 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
44 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic
45 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team
46 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
47 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
48 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo
49 Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies
50 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
51 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
52 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
53 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
54 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
55 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
56 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
57 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies
58 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
59 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
60 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
61 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
62 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation
63 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ
64 Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic
65 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
66 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team
67 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team
68 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo
69 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
70 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
71 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
72 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal
73 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
74 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
75 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis
76 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
77 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:09:40
78 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation
79 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM
80 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:11:25
81 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis
82 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
83 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
84 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-Up Nation
85 Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
86 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
87 Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
88 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
89 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team
90 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
91 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team
92 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
93 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
94 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM
95 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
96 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
97 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal
98 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
99 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team
100 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis
101 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
102 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ
103 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
DNF Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Movistar Team
DNF Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-Up Nation

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 3:26:05
2 Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:04
3 Pierre Latour (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:00:10
4 Samuele Battistella (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:00:12
5 Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:00:17
6 Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:21
7 Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Movistar Team
8 Louis Vervaeke (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
9 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:00:22
10 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:23
11 Damien Touze (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:26
12 Nairo Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:28
13 Elia Viviani (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:32
14 Cedric Beullens (Bel) Lotto Soudal
15 Aurélien Paret Peintre (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:00:34
16 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:35
17 Luke Rowe (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:40
18 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) TotalEnergies 0:00:48
19 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:51
20 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Arkea-Samsic 0:00:56
21 Tristan Delacroix (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:01:11
22 Mads Würtz Schmidt (Den) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:01:17
23 Viktor Verschaeve (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:01:20
24 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:02:56
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:03:19
26 Tom Mainguenaud (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:03:22
27 Jean Goubert (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:03:54
28 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:44
29 Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar Team 0:09:50
30 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
31 Miguel Heidemann (Ger) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:09:51
32 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:09:53
33 Pieter Serry (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 0:09:55
34 Raphael Parisella (Can) B&B Hotels-KTM
35 Valentin Ferron (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:09:56
36 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
37 Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama-FDJ 0:09:57
38 Michele Gazzoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team
39 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Lotto Soudal
40 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
41 Yoann Paillot (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
42 Alexander Kamp (Den) Trek-Segafredo
43 Fabien Doubey (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:09:58
44 Florian Stork (Ger) Team DSM 0:09:59
45 Anthony Roux (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
46 Samuel Leroux (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
47 Paul Ourselin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:00
48 Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:02
49 Mark Donovan (GBr) Team DSM 0:10:06
50 Rudy Barbier (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:10:07
51 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis
52 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:08
53 Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:10:10
54 Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:10:11
55 Victor Lafay (Fra) Cofidis
56 Lorrenzo Manzin (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:12
57 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
58 Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis 0:10:13
59 Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fra) Cofidis
60 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM
61 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:10:14
62 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team
63 Fabien Grellier (Fra) TotalEnergies 0:10:15
64 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:10:17
65 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:10:19
66 Tony Hurel (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:20
67 Jakob Egholm (Den) Trek-Segafredo
68 Valentin Tabellion (Fra) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:10:22
69 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:10:23
70 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:10:24
71 Norman Vahtra (Est) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole 0:10:25
72 Nicolas Debeaumarche (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:26
73 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:10:27
74 Joris Delbove (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:28
75 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Lotto Soudal 0:10:30
76 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:10:31
77 Kamil Malecki (Pol) Lotto Soudal 0:10:33
78 Jason Tesson (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:10:42
79 Dayer Quintana (Col) Arkea-Samsic 0:10:44
80 Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:11:34
81 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:49
82 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroen Team
83 Axel Zingle (Fra) Cofidis 0:11:54
84 Gleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
85 Simone Velasco (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:11:56
86 Michael Storer (Aus) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:57
87 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroen Team 0:11:59
88 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Arkea-Samsic
89 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Israel Start-Up Nation 0:12:05
90 Artyom Zakharov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:12:06
91 Tim Naberman (Ned) Team DSM 0:12:07
92 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Team 0:12:10
93 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
94 Maxime Chevalier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM 0:12:15
95 Jonathan Couanon (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:12:17
96 Thomas Champion (Fra) Cofidis 0:12:23
97 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Movistar Team 0:12:26
98 Emiel Vermeulen (Bel) Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Meropole
99 Xandres Vervloesem (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:12:28
100 Kévin Besson (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur
101 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:12:30
102 Pierre Barbier (Fra) B&B Hotels-KTM
103 Antoine Berlin (Mon) Nice Metropole Cote d’Azur 0:12:50