Emilian Jenner (Vendée U) was the best on the first stage of the three-day Tour d’Eure-et-Loir. In the end he defeated, among others, Robert Donaldson (Great Britain) and Samuel Leroux (Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole). Jacob Morillas (Team Voster ATS) came in sixth.
The competition began in the French Tour d’Eure-et-Loir on Friday. The cyclists raced on a slightly undulating, 160-kilometre stage, on which four slick bounty and three mountain bounty were set – the last of which was placed on the finish line at Chateaudun (0.6 km; 5.2%), where the cyclists rode twice.
The Voster ATS riders started in the French stage race – Patrick Stuss, Bowie Selleck, Jacob Morias, Szymon Krausek, Damien Babersky and Krzysztof Parma.
As it happens in the French races, the pace was very high from the start. Several riders tried to stay away from the peloton, but no breakout was able to get a big enough advantage. WB riders – Fybolia Morbihan – Mickael Guichard and Jocelyn Baguelin, who won both finishes, dominated the first two wins.
After the second stage of the disorder, a large group separated from the peloton. They include, among others: Thomas DennisAnd the Samuel Lero (Go Sport – Rubix Lille Metropole), Luke Modgway (Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling Team), Paweł Cieślik (Team Voster ATS) or Jocelyn PajolinWhich was the fastest in the third flying bonus. The brawlers quickly seized the main group for several tens of seconds, but the peloton kept them on a short leash.
The breakaway was eliminated 65 kilometers from the finish line. Then there was a lot of turmoil in the peloton, but there was no clear escape. In the choppy fourth stage, where you can score extra seconds, the fastest was Norman Vatra (Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole), the last Tour of Estonia stage winner.
Soon, more than twenty players from the group jumped out, including: Matisse Le Berry (Cote d’Armor Marie Maureen Yu), Emilian JennerAnd the Thomas Bonnet (Vendée U), Thomas DennisAnd the Samuel Lero (Go Sport – Roubaix Lille Metropole), Robert Donaldson (Great Britain), Ryan Christensen (Bolton Equities Black Spoke Pro Cycling), Miss HendricksAnd the Ton Vandebosch (Alpecin-Fenix Development Team), Willie SmitAnd the Rainer Honig (China Glory Continental Cycling Team) and one of Team Voster ATS cyclists – Jacob Morillas.
The riders collaborated in unison to break away and held their advantage for several tens of seconds until the final kilometres. Among others, Thomas Denis, Willie Smit, Jacob Morillas and Mathis Le Berry were actively driving at that time – the departure of the Pole and the Frenchman was mistakenly directed 3 km to the finish line, which caused competitors to lose their advantage.
Emilian Guigner of Vendee Yu, who became the first race leader, came to victory. Robert Donaldson and Samuel Leroux held the following positions. Jacob Morillas finished sixth after active driving.
Results of the first stage of the Tour d’Eure-et-Loir 2022:
