Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) finally returned to his winning ways for the first time since 2013 when he claimed an impressive solo victory on the very hard opening stage of the inaugural Tour La Provence. Having joined an early six-rider breakaway, he dropped his companions on the tough finishing circuit and managed to hold off a splintering peloton on the short climb to the finish to take botht he win and the leader’s jersey. Petr Vakoc (Etixx-QuickStep) won the sprint for second ahead of Voeckler’s young teammate Lilian Calmejane.

Despite not being a fast sprinter or an elite climber, Thomas Voeckler started this season with 35 victories on his palmares. However, age and injuries have taken their toll on the veteran who has failed to win a single race since the 2013 Tour du Poitou Charentes.

With his results being less impressive in recent years, Voeckler has stepped more into a role of road captain but today he proved that he is still capable of producing his trademark wins with his aggressive riding style. With an impressive ride on a very hilly course on the opening stage of the inaugural Tour La Provence, he managed to break his three-year drought.

Voeckler had joined an early breakaway that also included Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Romain Feillu (HP BTP-Auber 93), Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Thomas Rostollan (Armee), and the sextet had managed to keep a gap of just below three minutes for most of the stage.

However, the peloton accelerated as they approached the Route des Cretes climb with 32km to go and at the bottom the gap had dropped to less than two minutes. This climb was too hard for Rostollan who was dropped from the break.

The peloton made a huge acceleration and when the gap had dropped to less than a minute, Peraud and Voeckler had to react. They upped the pace, left Edet, Antomarchi and Feillu behind and increased the gap to 1.45.

Antomarchi managed to rejoin the leading pair and the trio entered the final 25km with a 50-second advantage over Feillu and 1.40 over the peloton. Moments later they hit the circuit.

Quentin Pacher (Delko) attacked from the peloton and quickly caught Feillu. However, the pair was quickly brought back by the peloton which was now 1.20 behind.

Impressively, Peraud, Voeckler and Antomarchi managed to increase their advantage to 1.30 as they hit the climb to the finish for the first time. Here Voeckler attacked and he started the first lap with a 15-second advantage over Peraud and Antomarchi. The peloton crossed the line 1.25 behind the veteran.

Pacher, Loic Chetout (Cofidis) and Egan Bernal (Androni) attacked from the peloton which was exploding, with Fernando Gaviria, Frederic Brun, Pierre-Henri Lecuisinier, Sander Cordeel, and Phil Gaimon being among the many riders to get dropped. A group with Theo Vimpere, Ermenault, Gert Joeaar, Jeremy Maison, Hugo Hofstetter, Kevin Ledanois, Taylor Phinney, Maxime Cam, Felix Pouilly, Guillaume Thevenot crossed the line seven minutes behind the leader. Stephane Poulhiès, Jeremy Cornu, Louis Verhlest, Rostollan, Clement Penven, Cedric Pineau, Maxim Belkov, Aleksandr Porsev, Samuel Dumoulin, Maxime Daniel, Nico Denz, Patrick Gretsch, Evaldas Siskevicius and Benjamin Giraud were more than 11 minutes behind.

As they started the first lap, Jan Bakelants (Ag2r) attacked from the peloton and while he started to close the gap, Antomarchi rejoined Voeckler. The two Frenchmen started the final lap with a 28-second advantage over their Belgian chaser.

The peloton had exploded on the climb and it was a group with the likes of Bernal, Petr Vakoc, Chris Anker Sorensen, Lilian Calmejane, Elie Gesbert, Lawson Craddock, Anthony Roux, Maxime Bouet, Pieter Serry, Christophe Riblon, Odd Christian Eiking, Francesco Gavazzi, Danilo Wyss, Anthony Delaplace, Sergey Chernetski, Amael Moinard, Jimmy Turgis, Toms Skujins, Quentin Pacher, Simon Spilak, Julien El Fares, Alessandro De Marchi, Olivier Pardini and Bryan Nauleau that had formed behind Bakelants.

Voeckler quickly accelerated and again left Antomarchi behind and he entered the final 3km with and advantage of 17 seconds. He dug deep on the final climb and reached the finish with a small advantage to take his first win of the 2016 season.

Antomarchi was still in lone pursuit at the passage of the flamme rouge but both he and Bakelants were passed by an elite group of climbers on the climb. It exploded to pieces on the steep gradients and it was Petr Vakoc who won the sprint for second ahead of Lilian Calmejane, Pieter Serry (Etixx-QuickStep) and Chris Anker Sørensen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept).

There are no bonus seconds in the race so Voeckler now leads Vakoc by the handful of seconds he gained in the stage. He will try to defend his position in tomorrow’s second stage which should be significantly easier. It includes six climbs in the first half but the final half is predominantly flat. It ends with four laps of a 6.3km finishing circuit where the sprinters are expected to come to the fore.

The queen stage

The inaugural edition of Tour La Provence kicked off with a 169km stage that brought the riders from Aubagne to Cassis. It was a day full of ups and downs and the course included the climbs of Cote des Thermes, Cote du Pigeonalier, Cote du Cengle, Cote de l’Esipouglier, Pas  d’Ouliier and Routes des Crestes along the way. In the end, the riders faced to laps of a 7.8km finishing that included a 900m climb with a gradient of 15%. The finish line was located 200m from the top, making it a perfect finish for puncheurs.

It was a sunny and windy day when the riders headed out for their neutral ride. Right from the start there was an attack from a Delko rider and he set the tone for a fast start.

Lots of attacks

Three riders briefly got clear but Cannondale were attentive and brought it back together. Four riders made the next move and were joined by another 20 to make it a big group. As they hit the first climb, only nine were left but they were picked up a 40-rider group after the peloton had split. However, things came back together.

Martin Laas (Delko) Aidis Kruopus and Jan Ghyselinck (Verandas Willems) were already suffering at the back as the peloton faced constant attacks. At the top 11 riders had gone clear and from that group Thomas Rostollan (Armee) emerged on the descent. Meanwhile, Ghyselinck and Kruopis rejoined the peloton.

A dangerous group gets clear

Rostollan got some company and at the bottom of the second climb, a 12-rider group with Jérémy Maison (Ag2r), Peter Velits and Loic Vliegen (BMC), Carlos Verona (Etixx-QuickStep), Alex Howes (Cannondale), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Delio Fernandez (Delko), Marco Frapporti (Androni), Clément Penven and Thomas Rostollan (Armee), Jimmy Turgis (Roubaix) and Stef Van Zummeren (Verandas Willems) had formed, with the peloton trailing by 15 seconds.

Vliegen and Verona attacked on the climb while the rest of the group was caught. However, they were caught just before the top where Remy Di Gregorio (Delko) won the KOM sprint ahead of Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie) and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep). At this point, the peloton had exploded.

Six riders take off

On the descent, Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Romain Feillu (HP BTP-Auber 93), Julien Antomarchi (Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Thomas Rostollan (Armee) escaped and they managed to open a 40-second advantage after 40km of racing. They continued to extend the gap while Rostollan beat Feillu and Edet in the first intermediate sprint.

At the bottom of the third climb, the gap had gone out to 1.30 after a first hour during which the riders had done 41.2km, and it was 2.30 when Antomarchi beat Rostollan and Peraud in the KOM sprint. The peloton was in no hurry and so the gap reached four minutes after 57km of racing.

FDJ up the pace

FDJ decided that it was time to organize a chase and while an injured Pierric Fedrigo (Fortuneo-Vital Concept), they split the peloton into two groups by attacking hard in the windy and hilly conditions. However, things calmed down again and things came back together.

The acceleration had reduced the gap to 3.15 with 101km to go and FDJ had no intention of letting the situation get out of control. At the bottom of the main climb og Col de l’Espigoulier with 84km to go, the gap was down to 2.20.

The gap stabilizes

Boris Dron (Wanty) became the next rider to abandon the race while the escapees made use of the climb to increase their advantage to 2.55. After the climb, it stabilized around 2.40.

The gap went out from 2.40 and 2.50 on the Col de’Ange and it was 2.55 with just 47km to go. Two kilometres later Rostollan beat Antomarchi and Edet in the second intermediate sprint and as they headed toward the Route des Cretes, the peloton accelerated and kicked off the exciting finale.