Magnier sprints to victory in first stage of Star of Bessèges

The Star of Bessèges, which started on Wednesday and continues through Sunday, welcomed a strong field of competitors, including Mads Pedersen, Arnaud De Lie, Maxim Van Gils, and Richard Carapaz, who opened their season in the sunny south of France.

In the first hours of the stage, Victor Vercouillie, Axandre Van Petegem, Célestin Guillon, and Axel Mariault broke away from the peloton. The four worked well together, building a lead of more than six minutes. Nevertheless, their advantage did not become seriously dangerous, as the peloton kept the pace high with the help of INEOS Grenadiers and Lotto. At 37 kilometers from the finish, the bunch was reunited.

There were few other obstacles on the course besides a slightly uphill finish, so it was clear that we were going to the sprint. Magnier was the strongest and fastest, thus defeating Meeuws and Van den Berg.