ProTeam Maxim Van Gils fifth in the Faun-Ardèche Classic

The first race of the French races Boucles Drôme-Ardèche took place today, a challenging course with start and finish in Guilherand-Granges.

A breakaway formed early in the race with a lead of almost seven minutes. At the Val d'Enfer, their song was over. With 40 kilometers to go, a select group of around seventy riders remained. The riders then had to conquer Saint-Romain-de-Lerps and Val d'Enfer one last time.

The race exploded completely on the Saint-Romain-de-Lerps. A breakaway of four riders formed, with Juan Ayuso, Romain Grégoire, Mattias Skjelmose and Felix Gall. Maxim Van Gils and Sylvain Moniquet were in a chasing group of nine riders.

Despite some attacks in the final kilometre, it ended up being a sprint with the four leaders. Although the chasers came close, Juan Ayuso took the victory, while Maxim Van Gils won the sprint for the fifth place.

"The race went smoothly in the beginning. Three riders were able to escape and built a big lead. After that, the pace was very high in the second part of the race. I was positioned well on the decisive climb but partly due to mechanical problems, I didn't have a big acceleration today. I ended up in a group together with Sylvain Moniquet. However, the organisation there was difficult, allowing the leading group to stay in the front. I hoped for more, but a fifth place was the highest we could achieve," Van Gils said afterwards.

Picture: Brecht Steenhouwer