Visma | Lease a Bike left unrewarded in France as Jorgenson is beaten by Grégoire

The Faun Drôme Classic was held the day after the Faun-Ardèche Classic, a one-day race on roads used at last year’s European Championships. On Saturday, 19-year-old Paul Seixas was in a league of his own, dropping riders such as Jorgenson and Mattias Skjelmose and winning by close to two minutes.

On Sunday, there was no repeat of that scenario. Seixas was not on the start line for the Drôme Classic, but many of Saturday’s riders did return. Among them was Dutchman Sjoerd Bax (Q36.5), who made sure he was represented in the breakaway along with six other riders.

The decisive part of the race came in the finale, where the climbs followed each other in quick succession: seven short, punchy ascents inside the final 50 kilometres. The escapees saw their advantage melt away, and on the Col de la Grande Limite — the highest point of the day — their move was finally brought to an end.

Visma | Lease a Bike took control at the head of a steadily thinning peloton. The first real acceleration came from Lidl-Trek, where Mattias Skjelmose pushed on and drew Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike) with him. They crested together, but the chasing group was close behind and the race soon regrouped — after which Tulett’s team-mate Davide Piganzoli attacked.

With the hardest kilometres already behind them, making a decisive difference was difficult. The racing became stop-start, but Jorgenson and Grégoire (Groupama–FDJ) timed their move perfectly. They quickly opened a gap, and Visma | Lease a Bike then shut things down behind to protect the front pair’s advantage. Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) attempted to bridge across, but could not make it stick.

Jorgenson and Grégoire worked well together and started the final short climb — which also hosted the finish — with just the two of them. Could the American do anything against the Frenchman’s speed? He could not: Grégoire was simply the fastest on the line, with Jorgenson taking second. Behind them, Martinez sprinted to third.