Ackermann’s horrific crash overshadows Bennett’s second win in Tour de La Provence, Pedersen takes overall victory

The first two days in Provence were spectacular. Sam Bennett was surprised on day one by sprinting to victory before Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) showed his good form on day two by defeating Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) in a one-to-one battle. On the last day, a flat 190.6-kilometer ride from Rognac to Arles was on the program. Pedersen thus had a good chance of defending his leader's jersey.

However, the Dane was put under pressure from the start. The attack came from the camp of Arkéa-B&B Hotels, where Raúl García Pierna was in the early breakaway. The Spaniard had moved into sixth place in the GC after two days. He was joined by mountain king Damien Girard (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) and Samuel Leroux, who came close to winning the first stage after a late breakaway. Lidl-Trek saw the danger and did not allow the six-man lead to exceed two minutes.

The leading group continued to ride steadily. With several strong trains at the front, they saw their chance for a stage win, perhaps even more. That is why other teams, including Unibet Tietema Rockets, who saw their leader Lukas Kubis (fourth in the rankings) under pressure, reached out to help in the peloton. In the youth classification, García Pierna did everything he could to stay ahead and received support from his fellow breakaway riders.

With ten kilometers to go, the gap was still over thirty seconds. The gap was too small for García Pierna to take the overall victory, so he dropped back from the leading group (after collecting some bonus seconds). Tietema Unibet Rockets worked hard for their Slovakian champion, but the leaders did not give up easily. It became a thrilling final stretch, but in the last kilometer, everything was decided. Pedersen was not feeling well, so Bennett won after Ackermann crashed horribly. Marijn van den Berg finished second, ahead of fellow Dutch rider Alexander Konijn, who finished a strong third for Nice Métropole.