Arnaud Tendon springs breakaway upset in rain-soaked Provence opener

Arnaud Tendon (Van Rysel Roubaix) claimed an upset win of stage 1 of the Tour de Provence after he outsprinted breakaway companion Mattia Bais (Polti-VisitMalta) with the peloton bearing down upon them in Saint-Victoret.

On a day of driving rain, Tendon and Bais were the last men standing from the five-man break that had formed shortly after the race left Marseille. As the stage drew on and the break shed riders, it looked as though it would all come back together for a bunch sprint, but Tendon and Bais continued to combine well deep into the finale, while the peloton struggled to organise itself.

The pair still had 12 seconds as they entered the last 2km, and they held their nerve on the treacherous finale to fend off the peloton and sprint it out for stage victory. Tendon launched his effort early and he had just too much in reserve for Bais, while Luke Lamperti (EF Education-EasyPost) won the sprint for third, two seconds down.

Tendon and Bais had Jonas Walton (CIC), Bailey McDonald (Novo Nordisk) and David Zanutta (XDS-Astana) for company in the early move, and they extended their lead over the rugged terrain in the middle portion of the stage, including the Col de Mazauges.

Victor Langellotti was prominent in working at the head of the peloton for much of the day for Ineos Grenadiers, with Lidl-Trek joining the pursuit on behalf of Mathias Vacek in the finale.

The rolling terrain and grim conditions saw the peloton whittled down in size ahead of the finale, while the break began to fragment as they drew closer to Saint-Victoret, with Tendon and Bais batting gamely to stay out in front.

It was the first win of Tendon's career and he carries the leader's jersey into stage 2 to Montagne de la Lure with a five-second lead on Bais and 11 seconds in hand on Lamperti.