Van den Berg and Del Grosso just fall short against Grégoire in sprint in Tour of Luxembourg

Mathieu van der Poel was the big attraction in last year's Luxembourg multi-day race on behalf of Alpecin-Deceuninck. The Dutchman won the first stage and finally finished second in the general classification, behind Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious). Neither of them was there this year, so a fairly open battle was expected.

On day one, the riders faced 152.8 kilometers, including a total of four fairly steep climbs. The top of the last hill, the Côte de Stafelter (2.2 kilometers at 7.2%), was less than ten kilometers from the finish, while the final kilometer was also uphill. Last year, Van der Poel was the best on the same finish, which was certainly worth repeating.

Six riders wanted to start those hills with a lead and rode away from the start. They included Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta), Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB), André Carvalho (Efapel), Malte Hellerup (ColoQuick), Mats Berns, and Mil Morang (both Luxembourg selection). They gained about two and a half minutes on the peloton.

Once the peloton managed to get closer and closer to the breakaway, the leading group split up: Morang and Pietrobon were the last remaining attackers. But their attempt was also unsuccessful. They were caught before the tough Côte de Stafelter, where UAE Team Emirates - XRG set the pace. But they couldn't prevent Richard Carapaz from kicking it into high gear.

The Ecuadorian from EF Education: EasyPost accelerated, but Hirschi stuck to his wheel like a limpet. Two attacks by Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) were neutralized, so it was a matter of waiting for the last 500 meters, where the road would become very tough.

Groupama-FDJ brought leader Romain Grégoire into a great position, but Marijn van den Berg (EF Education) was also well placed. He was delivered into pole position, but Tibor Del Grosso kept his cool at the front. Grégoire attacked very, very early, but Van den Berg couldn't get over him. He finished second, ahead of Hirchi: Del Grosso finished fifth.