Cycling: French double triumph after the last stage of this year's Tour de la Provence with the finish line in Marseille. While Christophe Laporte (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) was happy about the day's win, Alexandre Geniez (AG2R) was able to celebrate the triumph in the general classification after he was able to put on the jersey of the leader after his victory in the prologue on Thursday and not since delivered.
167km from Aix-en-Provence to the stage destination in Marseille were on the program today. Right at the beginning, less than 10km after the start of the stage, we faced the biggest challenge of the day, the Col de Porte (HC). A small group managed to break away from the field. Joshua Huppertz from the German Continental Team Lotto-Kern Haus was also part of the quintet.
The lead of the leading group, which had meanwhile increased to almost six minutes, began to crumble when the finish came in sight and the team around overall leader Alexandre Geniez (AG2R) in particular increased the pressure. At the uncategorized Col de la Gineste, it was all about the escapees and after numerous stages and an overall very high pace, only a greatly reduced field rolled down towards the stage finish.
Christophe Laporte won the final sprint ahead of Pierre Barbier (Roubaix Lille Metropole) and Jonas Vangenechten (Vital Concept). Geniez, who is leading overall, crossed the finish line with the second large group and successfully defended his lead in the classification.
Robert Kessler from Team-Lotto Kern Haus sprints to 14th place
As in the last few days, there is news again today directly from the racetrack from our editor Flo Nowak, who was at the start with his team Lotto Kern Haus in Provence:
“After yesterday's difficult mountain stage, my legs were a bit tired today. The undulating terrain also made the stage a surprise package. Right from the start it was slightly uphill again and our Joshua Huppertz must have felt extremely strong because he just made three attacks in a row and was then also in the group of the day. Great action and of course great for our team. Due to the wavy profile, it was relatively relaxed for us in the field at the back, but always a bit disgusting, since there was tension on the chain. When it was then at kilometer 100 in the final climbs, things suddenly turned really high. In a longer descent, the field even divided into 3-4 parts, so the boys were worn down. Luckily everything calmed down a bit, but after a short time it finally started. More and more people had to let go of the last waves. I was just able to save myself over the last climb and since I was probably not broken enough, I went on a nice attack on the plateau before the descent. But there wasn't much to be done and the high-speed approach resulted in a mass sprint. Even if things didn't go perfectly, our Robert Kessler finished 14th.
Now it's time to put your feet up before heading to the training camp in Mallorca at the end of next week to start the final preparations for the season. After that, the next Europe Tour races on Rhodes will continue at the beginning of March. You will hear from us.”
