Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2021 – Stage 1 [HIGHLIGHTS]

February 19, 2021

Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var 2021 – Stage 1 – Biot – Gourdon : 186,8 km

The French road racing season will continue this week with the 53rd edition of the Tour de Alpes Maritimes et du Var – a hilly, three-day race that has seen legends like Raymond Poulidor, Joop Zoetemelk and Sean ‘King’ Kelly etch their names onto its winners list. With a Grand Tour-level startlist and a route that guarantees aggressive racing from start to finish, it looks as though we will see another big-name rider join these legends this year. But who will get the honour? The Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var – or the Tour du Haut Var as it was previously known until 2020 – is a notoriously hilly race and one that regularly sees some of the most aggressive and attritional racing seen anywhere amongst the early-season stage races. For the 2021 edition the organisers have ramped up the difficulty factor and added even more hills, turning what was already a grueling race into a proper trial by fire. Here’s an in-depth look at the three stages in store…

Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) won the opening stage of the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, triumphing on the summit finish in Gourdon to take the first yellow leader’s jersey of the three-day race.

The Dutchman beat Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R Citroën) to the line by two seconds after 188 kilometres of racing which took in three ascents of the finishing climb, while Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) finished third.

Mollema, racing his tenth day of 2021 so far, kept his powder dry as attacks flew on the final climb of the day. He waited to jump away from the peloton as the road kicked up to six per cent in the final 200 metres of the 14-kilometre closing climb, sealing the 15th win of his 14-year career.

A 25-man group rolled in, a single second down on Van Avermaet and Madouas, with Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) leading the way in a group containing teammate Dan Martin, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), among others. Those GC riders will be tempted by the tougher climbs of Sunday’s stage 3 in Blusasc, which includes three first-category climbs.

How it unfolded

The French stage racing season continued at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var on Friday morning, as a class field of riders set off from the hilltop village of Biot north of Cannes to kick off the 186.8-kilometre opening stage to the village of Gourdon, nestled in the Préalpes d’Azur national park.

The stage looked arguably the toughest of the three-day race, featuring three second-category ascents of the 14-kilometre, 3.9 per cent climb to Gourdon, including the finisher. Two kilometres of seven per cent in the middle of the climb, plus a final kilometre at six per cent, looked best suited to attacks for the win and first yellow jersey of the race.

Attacks flew from the very start of the stage, with Otto Vergaerde (Alpecin-Fenix) and Tom Wirtgen (Bingoal-Wallonie Bruxelles) the first riders to escape the peloton. The two lowlanders were quickly joined out front by Flavien Maurelet (St Michel-Auber 93) and Óscar Cabedo (Burgos-BH), with Jérémy Leveau (Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Métropole) chasing further back.

The quartet were joined by Leveau as they passed through the intermediate sprint at 30 kilometres six minutes up on the peloton, who were happy to let them go. Ineos Grenadiers, who are led at the race by Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, were in charge at the front of the peloton with Total Direct Énergie and Trek-Segafredo also towards the front. Wirtgen, who led the way across the first intermediate sprint, did the same at the second, which came after 67 kilometres.

Their advantage had eroded by that point, though, edging under three minutes as the riders passed the 100 kilometres to go mark. By the time the quintet reached the base of the first ascent of Gourdon – with little else happening in the interim – they had just two minutes on the peloton behind. Despite the upping of pace behind, there was no danger of the break being caught so early, and Vergaerde led the break over the day’s first climb still two minutes up. Andrea Mifsud (Swiss Cycling Academy) struck out alone on the climb, but struggled to make much headway, hanging 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Further back, Ineos Grenadiers continued to control the peloton, with Dylan Van Baarle and Rohan Dennis among the riders on the front. The break wouldn’t make it to the final ascent of Gourdon, with Vergaerde the last man standing, just a kilometre from the top of the day’s second climb with 27 kilometres remaining.

At that point, the peloton was still sizeable and still led by Ineos, though AG2R Citroën’s Oliver Naesen tried his luck with an attack on the descent. Behind him, the peloton split as they headed down into the valley, though Trek-Segafredo took charge of proceedings at the base of the final ascent. The situation briefly calmed, before Groupama-FDJ moved to the front and the attacking started. Their man Madouas led an attack which included Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën) and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels p/b KTM), though as they passed five kilometres to go, only Pacher remained.

The Frenchman kept pushing on but was reeled in by Groupama-FDJ with three kilometres left to race, at which point the French squad kept pushing on at the front along with Trek-Segafredo. The race would be decided then, by the burst to the line which angled up to a still modest six per cent gradient. In the end, it was Mollema who proved the top puncheur in those closing metres, getting the jump on Van Avermaet to deny the Belgian a victory on his sixth race day with his new team.

Results :
1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 4:50:20
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:01
3 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
4 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
5 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
6 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
7 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
11 Arjen Livyns (Bel) Bingoal WB
12 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana-Premier Tech
13 Petr Vakoc (Cze) Alpecin-Fenix
14 Magnus Cort (Den) EF Education-Nippo
15 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
16 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation
17 Roger Adria Oliveras (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
18 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
19 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
20 Ben O’Connor (Aus) AG2R Citroën Team
21 Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
22 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
23 Ben Tulett (GBr) Alpecin-Fenix
24 Julien El Fares (Fra) EF Education-Nippo
25 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers
26 Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego (Spa) Delko
27 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
28 Sander Armee (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
29 Simon Clarke (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
30 Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:00:14
31 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
32 Fabio Aru (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
33 Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
34 Simon Carr (GBr) EF Education-Nippo
35 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
36 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
37 Pierre Latour (Fra) Total Direct Energie
38 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
39 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM
40 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Bingoal WB
41 Laurens Huys (Bel) Bingoal WB
42 Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:20
43 Krists Neilands (Lat) Israel Start-up Nation
44 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Total Direct Energie
45 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
46 Jimmy Janssens (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
47 Jhonatan Narvaez Prado (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:22
48 Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:24
49 Urko Berrade Fernandez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:00:33
50 Simon Geschke (Ger) Cofidis 0:00:35
51 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
52 Bruno Armirail (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:40
53 Martijn Tusveld (Ned) Team DSM 0:00:47
54 Victor Langellotti (Mon) Burgos-BH 0:01:31
55 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:34
56 Clément Berthet (Fra) Delko 0:01:37
57 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
58 Clément Carisey (Fra) Delko
59 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R Citroën Team 0:01:41
60 Anthony Perez (Fra) Cofidis 0:01:43
61 Victor De La Parte (Spa) Total Direct Energie
62 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:02:07
63 Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal WB 0:02:26
64 Mathias De Witte (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
65 Jaime Castrillo Zapater (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:02:42
66 Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:44
67 Eliot Lietaer (Bel) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
68 Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
69 Daryl Impey (RSA) Israel Start-up Nation
70 Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko 0:04:06
71 Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis 0:05:20
72 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
73 Jose Felix Parra Cuerda (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
74 Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates
75 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
76 Emil Vinjebo (Den) Team Qhubeka Assos
77 Xandro Meurisse (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix 0:05:34
78 Dimitri Claeys (Bel) Team Qhubeka Assos
79 Biniam Girmay (Eri) Delko
80 Cristian Rodriguez Martin (Spa) Total Direct Energie
81 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
82 Henri Vandenabeele (Bel) Development Team DSM
83 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Cofidis
84 Yannis Voisard (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
85 Mathias Le Turnier (Fra) Delko
86 Thomas Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:05:47
87 Thibault Ferasse (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM 0:06:10
88 Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
89 Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra) Total Direct Energie
90 Stuart Balfour (GBr) Swiss Racing Academy
91 Aloïs Charrin (Fra) Swiss Racing Academy
92 Elie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
93 Lukasz Owsian (Pol) Team Arkea-Samsic
94 Anthony Turgis (Fra) Total Direct Energie
95 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Israel Start-up Nation
96 Floris De Tier (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
97 Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-up Nation 0:07:16
98 Fabien Doubey (Fra) Total Direct Energie
99 Marco Brenner (Ger) Team DSM
100 Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
101 Julien Bernard (Fra) Trek-Segafredo
102 Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) Cofidis
103 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Cofidis
104 Hugo Houle (Can) Astana-Premier Tech
105 Toms Skujins (Lat) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:04
106 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:10:34
107 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) B&B Hotels p/b KTM
108 Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team DSM
109 Ivan Moreno Sanchez (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
110 Patrick Bevin (NZl) Israel Start-up Nation 0:12:39
111 Oscar Cabedo Carda (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:12:43
112 Jon Agirre Egaña (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma 0:13:55
113 Martin Salmon (Ger) Team DSM 0:14:01
114 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Development Team DSM
115 Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH
116 Ander Okamika Bengoetxea (Spa) Burgos-BH
117 Carlos Garcia Pierna (Spa) Equipo Kern Pharma
118 Tom Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal WB
119 Lukasz Wisniowski (Pol) Team Qhubeka Assos
120 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
121 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ
122 Diego Rubio Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH
123 Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Education-Nippo
124 Maxime Urruty (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
125 Flavien Maurelet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
126 Adrien Guillonnet (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
127 Otto Vergaerde (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
128 Romain Cardis (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93
129 Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal WB
130 Mitch Docker (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
131 Damian Lüscher (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
132 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) EF Education-Nippo
133 Baptiste Bleier (Fra) St Michel-Auber 93 0:14:42
134 Morné Van Niekerk (RSA) St Michel-Auber 93
135 Jérémy Leveau (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
136 Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Burgos-BH
137 Amaury Capiot (Bel) Team Arkea-Samsic
138 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates
139 Reto Müller (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
140 Matthias Reutimann (Swi) Swiss Racing Academy
141 Tom Scully (NZl) EF Education-Nippo
142 Rob Power (Aus) Team Qhubeka Assos
143 Maximilien Picoux (Bel) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
144 Dylan van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
145 Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
146 Yakob Debesay (Eri) Delko
147 Dylan Kowalski (Fra) Xelliss-Roubaix Lille Metropole
148 Pelayo Sanchez Mayo (Spa) Burgos-BH 0:15:39
149 Andréa Mifsud (Fra) Swiss Racing Academy 0:22:45

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 4:50:19
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) AG2R Citroën Team 0:00:02
3 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
4 Michael Woods (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:00:03
5 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
6 Dorian Godon (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
7 Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10 David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:06