In the French one-day race, six riders attacked on the first climb of the day. The breakaway built up a three-minute lead but was reeled in with 30 kilometers to go by the heavily reduced peloton. On the penultimate climb, the Saint Romain de Lerps, the pace surged.

Several attacks caused the peloton to split into pieces. Multiple riders from the yellow-and-black team showed strength at the front but were unable to make a decisive difference on the climb. In a chaotic finale, where some riders once again took a wrong turn in the final kilometer, Grégoire sprinted to victory.

"If you can't stay with the best in the final moments, then we have to be honest and admit there simply wasn’t more in it today", sports director Maarten Wynants reflected realistically. "It was only natural that on such a tough course, the strongest riders would remain. Ben held on for a long time and rode a strong race, but unfortunately, he eventually had to let go of the group of favorites. Sadly, we weren’t able to compete for a top result."

Tomorrow, the Faun Drôme Classic is on the schedule—another challenging one-day race in France. Despite the difficulty, Wynants sees more opportunities than today. "The course is still tough, but I expect more chances for us. It suits Axel (Zingle) and Ben well, so I’m curious to see what they can do. In any case, we will give everything to achieve a strong result."