Etoile de Besseges-Tour du Gard 2024: Mads P𓂃edersen (Lidl-Trek) wins stage 3 ahead of ahead of Mi🅠lan Menten (Lotto Dstny)(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mads Pedersen of Lidl-𒆙Trek rides in the Yellow Points Jersey during the 161.1km stage to Bessè🌱;ges(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Simon Carr of EF Education-EasyPost leads the breakaway dur♊ing stage 3(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The six-rider breakaway on the final climb saw Theo Delac🐈roix (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) setting the pace with group including Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost), Sander De Pestel (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Alexis Gougeard (Cofidis), Thibault Guernalec (Arkea-BB Hotels), Jonas Abrahamsen (UnoX Mobility) and Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Rémy Rochas (Gr𝔉oupama-FDJ) attack𓂃 on the final categorised climb(Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
A general view of the peloton (Image credit: Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
The Dane survived the six categorised climbs on the 161.1km route starting and finishing in Bessèges with enough left in the tank to outsprint 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Milan Menten (Lotto Dstny) and 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility) after the peloton reeled in a last-ditch atta✅ಌck from Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).
A strong seven-rider break including the in-form 澳洲幸运5开奖官网在线查询开奖结果:Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) had got up the road in the opening 20km 𝓀of racing. But they were caught on the final categorised climb where attacks from Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Rémy Rochas (Groupama-F🧔DJ) weren’t enough to get rid of Pedersen and the remaining fast men.
Pedersen took over the race lead from stage 2 winner Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceuninck) thanks to the bonus seconds gained on the line, with the Frenchman now six seconds d꧃own heading into the final two stages.
“It’s a really good day for us and nice to give the guys the victory they deserved yesterday. [It] sums up the two good days of racing," Pedersen said, and noting his win bu♑mped him into the overall lead.
"I’m expecting to get attacked tomorrow, it’s a hard finish and I’m not the strongest climber here so for sure theyও will try, and they have to, they’re here to win the race also. But now we have what we came for, we came for a stage victory, so we are happy but of course we will try to hang on with these guys tomorrow. The GC would be a bonus because we know how hard it will be tomorrow.”
How it Unfolded
After Etoile de Bessèges got back underway with stage 2’s ramp finale, the third stage💧 proved to be the first full uphill test for the riders with five categorised and two uncategorised climbs lining the 161km 🔜route starting and finishing in Bessèges itself.
Just 20km into the day’s action, a very strong seven-man break would get up the road including Carr, Sander De Pestel (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Alexis Gougeard (Co🌌fidis), Thibault Guernalec (Arké🧜a - B&B Hotels), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Thomas Gachignard (TotalEnergies) and Théo Delacroix (St Michel - Mavic - Auber93).
As the leaders built a lead past the four-minute mark, ▨Abrahamsen was the most active in front, work♐ing to earn as many King of the Mountains points as possible over the first and second-category climbs that lined the middle phase of racing.
Behind, race leader Laurance’s Alpecin-Deceuninck𝕴 team worked to keep the time gap manageable alongside Groupama-FDJ and Ark෴éa-B&B Hotels.
Minor attacks out of the peloton brought the speeds higher at the foot of the Col des Portes (6.7km at 3.6%), bringi💖ng the time gap down to under 30 seconds with 15km left in the day and just one climb left to navigate - the Col des Brousses (2.4km at 5.1%)
Lidl-Trek moved to the front with Julien Bernard taking up moreꩵ work on the front at which point Carr shot out of the break to try and attack away again. He brought Abrahamsen and De Pestel with him, but their advantage was now just a narrow 20 seconds on the peloton.
Cosnefroy was o🌟n the attack again behind, lining out the remaining bunch and closing down the slim advantage still held by Carr and his fellow e🎉scapees, before it all came back together 12km from the line.
The peloton slowed at the bottom of the final, rapid descent, promp🦹ting attacks from Bibgoal-WB and Tud𓆏or Pro Cycling’s Marco Brenner, with the German quickly building out a 10-second advantage.
Lidl-Trek retook front position in the peloton for Pedersen’s ambitions, but the 21-year-old was holding position and gettin♊g away up the road. The help of Uno-X Mobility and EF Education-EasyPost on the front reeled back Brenner just before the flamme rouge.
Realising he had no chance in thಌe sprint, Vauquelin attacked as the catch was made to Brenner, prompting Lidl-Trek back onto the front to ensure Pedersen had the chance to sprint and end the Frenchman's hope🌼.
With right-hand man Alex Kirsch still there to le💫ad him out, the Dane hit the front at the perfect time and never looked back as Menten and Tiller battled for the podium places behind.
Results
Results powered by
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and exper💮t buying guides, direct to your inbox!
James Mou♓ltrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wr💫ote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
