Victor Guernalec claims first pro victory in Région Pays de la Loire Tour, Bennett's sprint comes too late

While the WorldTour peloton is thundering on through the Tour of the Basque Country and looking ahead to Paris–Roubaix, racing is also in full swing elsewhere in France. The 71st edition of the French four-day race kicked off on Tuesday, with Bennett living up to his favorite status by winning the opening stage with a powerful sprint—securing the first leader’s jersey in the process. Wednesday’s second stage, like the day before, featured little elevation, though the final kilometer had a deceptively uphill finish. That made Bennett the clear favorite once again.

Four riders broke away early in the stage. Among them were Ko Molenaar from the development squad of Picnic–PostNL, Similien Hamon (CIC-U-Nantes), and José María García and José Marín (both riding for Illes Balears Arabay). The peloton allowed them a maximum lead of four minutes.

Gradually, the peloton started to accelerate, steadily reeling in the breakaway. Up front, Marín was the first to drop off, getting distanced 46 kilometers from the finish. In the peloton, Uno-X took control, with Andreas Leknessund showing attacking intent for the Norwegian squad. By that point, the remaining three escapees were just 20 seconds ahead of the bunch, prompting several riders to launch attacks of their own.

Ewen Costiou launched an attack and was joined by Adam Toupalik and Killian Théot. The trio was granted about a 30-second lead by the peloton, which was also riding at a strong pace. That high speed caused the peloton to split into several groups. A further acceleration in the wind-blown pack eventually spelled the end of the breakaway, and only about 40 riders remained in contention.

Bennett appeared to struggle for a moment, hanging on at the back of the reduced peloton. With 13 kilometers to go, Victor Guernalec was the next to attack, managing to gain a small advantage. The Frenchman from Arkéa–B&B Hotels was soon joined by Sakarias Koller Løland (Uno-X) and Sam Maisonobe (Cofidis). With eight kilometers remaining, the trio had built a 30-second gap, giving them a solid shot at victory.

Løland launched one final acceleration at the start of the last kilometer, while behind them, Kévin Vauquelin and Lander Loockx also went on the offensive. But it was Guernalec who kicked off the sprint and couldn't be caught. The Frenchman powered to the first victory of his professional career. Løland finished second, and Hobbs sprinted to third place for EF Education–EasyPost.