
After yesterday’s opening stage for the puncheurs, today’s finale looked more suited for the sprinters with 202 kilometres from L’Escala to Perpignan awaited the bunch. Sitting in third place overall and in the lead of the KOM competition, the team hatched a plan to see if the peloton were willing to let Jonas Iversby Hvideberg infiltrate the break and claim bonus seconds, to potentially move into the race lead.
With two riders rolling off the front immediately and the peloton fanning across the road, Iversby Hvideberg squeezed his way through a gap and launched across to the duo. The three riders worked well together and built up a lead that reached a maximum of five minutes, which ultimately allowed Iversby Hvideberg to bolster his lead in the KOM jersey and crucially, take five bonus seconds and move into the virtual GC lead.
Approaching the final 25 kilometres the race was all back together and there was a nervousness in the air due to the swirling winds, with the bunch splitting into three distinct groups. Iversby Hvideberg and Henri Vandenabeele made it into the front split for the team, with Vandenabeele doing a brilliant job of keeping Iversby Hvideberg safe. The sprinters in the group fought it out for the win with Vandenabeele crossing the line in ninth – his first WorldTour top ten – and with Iversby Hvideberg in the group; it meant he moved into the lead of all four jersey competitions for the team.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | GROVES Kaden | Team BikeExchange - Jayco | 4:44:28 | 50 |
2 | BAUHAUS Phil | Bahrain - Victorious | ,, | 20 |
3 | HOFSTETTER Hugo | Team Arkéa Samsic | ,, | 8 |
9 | VANDENABEELE Henri | Team DSM | ,, | - |
14 | HVIDEBERG Jonas Iversby | Team DSM | ,, | - |
78 | PEDERSEN Casper | Team DSM | 0:33 | - |
95 | DONOVAN Mark | Team DSM | ,, | - |
98 | COMBAUD Romain | Team DSM | ,, | - |
118 | BRENNER Marco | Team DSM | ,, | - |
160 | MAYRHOFER Marius | Team DSM | 21:52 | - |