Thibaud Gruel (Groupama-FDJ) holds off Madis Mikhels (EF) and Axel Zingle (Visma | LaB) in Occitanie

Thibaud Gruel of Groupama-FDJ won the first stage of the Route d'Occitanie. The young Frenchman held off Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike), among others to become the first overall leader.

With all the racing going on this week, you’d think teams would be short on riders. But there was a full field at the start of the Route d’Occitanie in France. While the biggest names did stay away in favor of the Tour de Suisse or the Baloise Belgium Tour, it made for an open contest in the three-day stage race.

It started with a stage suited for sprinters. With riders like Madis Mihkels (EF Education - EasyPost), Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike), and Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello - Q36.5), there were plenty of fast riders at the start. However, the course for the first stage wasn’t entirely flat, which meant that some teams wanted to make it a tough race.

A four-man breakaway formed early on, but Jamie Meehan (Cofidis), Oliver Mattheis (BIKE AID), Théo Delacroix (St Michel - Preference Home), and Laurens Huys (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) were never allowed too much room, thanks in part to Visma | Lease a Bike and EF Education-EasyPost. They controlled the race for Zingle and Mikhels.

The breakaway was caught just before the day’s final climb—a 1.2-kilometer stretch with a 7.8 percent gradient, 9 kilometers from the finish. Decathlon CMA CGM took control there and had Johannes Staune Mittet follow several other attacks, as did Cofidis rider Ion Izagirre and Visma | Lease a Bike rider Tim Rex.

However, everyone stayed fairly close together, so as expected, it came down to a sprint. In the sprint, Gruel got the better of Mikhels and Zingle, although the latter did make a strong push at the end.