Bryan Coquard Clinches Sprint Victory at Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise

Bryan Coquard has won the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise. The Cofidis rider took the French season opener in a bunch sprint. A Belgian and a Dutch rider also stood on the podium: Steffen De Schuyteneer finished second, Alex Molenaar third.

While cyclocross fans were watching the Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hulst in large numbers, further south the traditional opener of the French road season was on the schedule: the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise. On the hilly course near the Mediterranean, a lot was expected from local riders like Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CMG) and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies), but Lukas Kubis (Unibet Rose Rockets) from Slovakia was also among the top favorites.

The breakaway of the day consisted of six Continental riders, including Belgian Kenny Molly (Van Rysel Roubaix). The attack would last until about sixty kilometers from the finish. After that, there was no calm phase, as action resumed immediately. An eleven-rider lead group formed, including Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros), Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CMG), Niklas Larsen, and the active Tomáš Kopecký (both Unibet Rose Rockets).

Lapeira tries solo
A dangerous group, but they would not make it. With just under 25 kilometers to go, the peloton caught back up. However, Lapeira had other plans and rode solo. The former French champion led alone for a while, but on one of the final climbs of the day, he was caught again. After that, attacks kept coming.

Unibet Rose Rockets tried to keep things together among others, but in the final kilometers a trio managed to get a nice gap. Would Andrea Mifsud, Louis Hardouin, and Axel Mariault make it? No, because just before entering the last kilometer, they were caught again. It would come down to a sprint.

Coquard outsprints De Schuyteneer and Molenaar
In that sprint, Bryan Coquard showed himself the fastest. The experienced Cofidis veteran beat Steffen De Schuyteneer (Lotto-Intermarché) and Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). For the latter, it was already a great week: the Dutchman riding for a Spanish team recently learned that his squad received a wildcard for the Tour de France.