EF super-sprinter Hobbs holds on and wins opening stage of Tour de l’Avenir

The first stage wasn't really the first: Saturday's prologue was won by Paul Seixas, who held off rivals such as Jarno Widar, Lorenzo Finn, and Jørgen Nordhagen in the mountainous time trial in Tignes. The first road stage was considerably less complicated, but still had a tricky finish. Would we see a sprint, or would an attacker make his move?

Attackers had a mediocre day in France. Many riders tried, but they rarely got any space. Even leader Seixas joined a breakaway, but it was caught again, of course. Stef Koning had more luck, or should we say bad luck? The Dutchman managed to break away, but he was all alone. He managed to extend his lead to two minutes, but our 21-year-old compatriot seemed to have no chance when the road started to climb.

Still, he managed to hold on for a surprisingly long time. It was only just below the top of the Col des Brosses, the only climb of the day, that Mexican José Juan Prieto joined him. However, the Italian and Norwegian teams easily maintained control. The pair still had a slight lead on the descent, but for how long? The answer came not much later: 20 kilometers from the finish, the breakaway riders were caught.

A depleted peloton approached the final, where a vicious climb awaited in the last 10 kilometers. Before that, another unnamed Dutch rider attacked, but he was quickly caught. On the final climb, the French chose to attack, after which a large group of dangerous riders joined them. Leader Seixas had to close the gap again.

The breakaways were eventually all neutralized, even in the final kilometers: an attack by the Norwegians was repelled by the British, after which top sprinter Noah Hobbs finished the job.