Heading towards Domessargues, the peloton once again had to battle the elements this Thursday during the second stage of the Étoile de Bessèges–Tour du Gard. Despite the conditions, the day still ended in a bunch sprint, with Cyril Barthe getting involved to claim his first top-10 finish of the season (10th). Above all, Maxime Decomble and Ewen Costiou stayed out of trouble and finished in the peloton on the eve of a hillier stage.
After an explosive finish in Bellegarde the day before, pure sprinters were given their first real opportunity of the race on Thursday, with a slightly uphill finish in Domessargues after 162 kilometres of racing. A scenario similar to the previous day unfolded, with four riders up the road, very difficult weather conditions, and a tense chase in the final between the peloton and the breakaway. “Today, the main objective was to protect our GC leaders,” said Benoît Vaugrenard. “With the rain and some exposed sections with crosswinds, it was still a risky day, and it was extremely important to stay well positioned and alert. Only in the final ten kilometres, if everything was under control, could we then move up to try and contest the sprint with Cyril.”
“First, we had to get through the tricky stages” — Benoît Vaugrenard
Constantly present near the front of the bunch, Groupama-FDJ United perfectly fulfilled their primary objective and even took control in the final minutes. However, in the last four kilometres, the French squad suffered a little setback. “Everything was going well, but Axel [Huens] crashed and that disrupted us a bit,” explained Benoît. “The positive thing is that he’s fine, despite some nasty scrapes. In the sprint, Cyril did what he could. He was just missing that little extra.” Starting from a bit too far back on the slightly uphill finish, the Frenchman had to settle for tenth place, with victory going to Luxembourg’s Mathieu Kockelmann. “This week, we knew we first had to get through the tricky stages before the two key days for the general classification — Sunday’s time trial and tomorrow’s stage to Bessèges,” Benoît concluded. “We have two strong cards to play, so we’re confident.”
As of Thursday, Ewen Costiou and Maxime Decomble sit 12th and 13th respectively on the general classification, twelve seconds behind race leader Tom Crabbe.
