In a heroic Paris-Tours, a muddy Laporte is the strongest in sprint-á-deux: Vacek second

Since the course change, Paris-Tours has been a trendy classic. The addition of the gravel strips between the vineyards in the last 70 kilometers has made it a much more challenging race. Many different types of riders have since won the race: the previous was Riley Sheehan. The American won the French race as a trainee and was now the defending champion at the start.

The early breakaway of the day consisted of three men. In addition to the smaller teams sending a man along (Namely Mikel Retegi of Equipo Kern Pharma and Enzo Boulet of CIC U Nantes Atlantiques), Edoardo Affini was also in the breakaway. The European time trial champion thus made the race enjoyable early on. The harsh weather also made this possible: It was cold and raining cats and dogs.

Before we hit the gravel strips, Pedersen saw his chance. The former Lidl-Trek world champion set off on a slightly uphill section and got Pascal Ackermann with him. Within two kilometers, he forced the Israel Premier-Tech rider from the wheel: the Dane went solo searching for the breakaway. He found the connection with 55 kilometers to go, so we had four leaders. The peloton followed at just under a minute.

There, the chase was in full swing. The other teams did not want Pedersen to go to the finish unopposed, so the lead steadily decreased. At the front, Retegi and Boulet dropped almost immediately: Pedersen continued to ride steadily with Affini in his wheel. The gap constantly varied around thirty counts: the chase was disorganized. An acceleration by Christophe Laporte made the difference: with thirty kilometers to go, the Frenchman from Visma | Lease a Bike crossed over to Pedersen. He did so with Mathias Vacek: Lidl-Trek was with two men in front. Affini could no longer follow, so Laporte was alone.

As the race progressed, the riders were almost unrecognizable, completely covered in mud. On the second-to-last gravel section, Vacek accelerated, displaying his determination. He pushed his Danish teammate out of his wheel, but Laporte, equally determined, still followed. The chase, which included a couple of strong sprinters with Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), didn't get any closer: the gap remained around thirty seconds. Mick van Dijke was effectively disrupting his French leader. And so it became a one-on-one fight: Laporte forced his young rival to the front and then simply out-sprinted him. Philipsen finished third.