News: Ballerini strikes on Provence opening day

The Italian Davide Ballerini got his second victory for Deceuninck – Quick-Step at the end of a thrilling stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence and is the race’s first leader. Matt Walls was 5th

News: Ballerini strikes on Provence opening day

Press Release from Deceuninck – Quick-Step

The Italian Davide Ballerini got his second victory for Deceuninck – Quick-Step at the end of a thrilling stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence and is the race’s first leader and Britain’s Matt Walls was 5th.

Photo ©Billy Ceusters

Davide Ballerini won a thrilling sprint at the end of a thrilling stage 1 of the Tour de la Provence, capitalising on an out-of-this-world lead-out provided by his Deceuninck – Quick-Step teammates, which included Julian Alaphilippe, despite the World Champion animating the day with a long-range attack.

Making his first competitive outing of the year, Julian zipped clear on the early slopes of Montée du Brûlat, following several punchy attacks of Rémi Cavagna, Kasper Asgreen and Mauri Vansevenant, and together with Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) carved out a solid 1:20 gap inside 40 kilometers to go. The rugged terrain and the tailwind played into their favour until ten kilometres remaining, when the exposed coastal roads got that advantage trimmed to a handful of seconds.

Not even having the peloton breathing on their necks could stop Alaphilippe from oozing panache and launching one final attack over the top of a small rise inside three kilometres to go, that forced the chasers to dig deep in order to bring him in. Once the catch was made, the 28-year-old Frenchman remained at the front and delivered a huge effort as part of the Deceuninck – Quick-Step lead-out, which also featured Kasper Asgreen and Yves Lampaert.

Photo ©Billy Ceusters

“We had a plan, and that was to try something after the first 100 kilometers of the stage” explained the World Champion, “so I went with around 70 kilometres to go and got to spend a beautiful day at the front. The legs were good and together with the other two riders, I shared the workload at the front. When the gap went over one minute, I still knew it was going to be difficult, but I still gave my best. At the end of the day, I am satisfied with my condition and the way it panned out for us”, added Julian after the stage.

First to kick out on the finishing straight was Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), who opened a significant gap on the others. With the wind blowing from the right side in Six-Fours-les-Plages, Davide Ballerini timed it perfectly and surged down the barriers some 150 meters from the line, shooting past the Frenchman and opening his 2021 account, thus giving the Wolfpack a perfect start to the season.

“I had good legs coming into the race after the training camp, but I didn’t expect anything like this. We have a very strong team for this race and are all extremely motivated, so to get the win on the first day is just great. A big thank you goes to all the guys, because they put in an incredible effort and were pretty special the entire day.”

“The final wasn’t easy. Démare took six metres, but I found the space to come back, as well as the speed I needed to pass him. To win so early, and in front of one of last year’s best sprinters, is good for the confidence and brings me a lot of joy”, added Ballerini, who on Friday for stage 2 will sport the race’s Mondrian-style leader’s jersey.

Matt Walls: “I am happy with my top-5 finish in the sprint, especially since it was my first race with BORA-hansgrohe. The last few kilometres were quite chaotic because we ended up catching the escapees quite late. Before the finale, I found myself in the wind a bit too early, so I tried to find a better position for the sprint. I managed to do that pretty well and ended up taking fifth place behind a series of strong sprinters, a satisfying result in my first race of the year.”

Arnaud Démare: “I could see it wasn’t going fast enough and I didn’t want to get overwhelmed or locked up, so I made the decision to go early,” says Arnaud. “The sprint itself was very explosive, I’m happy, but it’s true that the wind didn’t help. I am being beaten more tactically than physically, which is reassuring in the end.”

Tour de LaProvence Stage 1:
1. Davide Ballerini
2. Arnaud Demare
3. Nacer Bouhanni.

5. Matt Walls
12. Ben Swift
23. Connor Swift
94. Mark Donovan
125. Fred Wright