The Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), irresistible since the start of the season, won the Tour de La Provence on Sunday, but was deprived of a grand slam by the Belgian Tom Van Asbroeck (Israel Premier Tech), winner of the third and final stage in Arles.
Pedersen, winner of the prologue on Thursday in Marseille then of the first two stages on Friday and Saturday, really didn’t go far from being a winner in this event which was making its return to the calendar this year, since he was still in front a few meters from the finishing line. But his strength ran out in the very last lengths of the sprint and it was ultimately Van Asbroeck who narrowly won ahead of Sam Bennett (Décathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale) and the Frenchman Hugo Hofstetter, teammate of the winner of the day.
Finally fifth on the stage, Pedersen still gave an extremely positive assessment of his week in Provence and his start to the season, having already won last week on the Étoile de Bessèges. “The team did a good job. I felt strong and I hoped to start the season well, but the last two weeks were above my expectations,” admitted the 2019 world champion, who now dreams of a Monument, Paris-Roubaix in the lead. .
For his part, Van Asbroeck was beaming after his unexpected success in Arles, at the end of a stage finally run under the sun after two days of uninterrupted rain but marked by the wind from the Camargue and the edges. “I am belgian! I like the wind, it was great today,” he smiled after the finish. “I’m super happy and super proud of the team. I also thought Pedersen was unbeatable, but today my legs were a little better,” he added.
