Grégoire plays his cards right in tense finale to win Faun Drome Classic

Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) played his cards right in a tense finish at the Faun Drome Classic, sprinting to an uphill victory in Étoile-sur-Rhône. 

The 23-year-old Frenchman had found himself clear with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) after the duo had snuck away after a busy final 20km where there were countless attacks. 

On the uphill run-in to the finish, the duo started to play games with a victory on the line, and this allowed the marauding chase pack to almost make the catch inside the final few hundred metres. 

Ultimately, Grégoire timed his acceleration to perfection and stormed his way to his 13th professional victory and first of the 2026 season. Jorgenson held on for second place, whilst Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious) was the quickest from the chasing pack.

Beginning in Étoile-sur-Rhône, a seven-rider breakaway formed featuring Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5), Javier Ibáñez (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Kenny Molly and Arnaud Tendon (Van Rysel Roubaix), Valentin Retailleau (TotalEnergies), and Jonas Walton (CIC Pro Cycling Academy). 

Walton would be the first distanced from the break, with the remainder of the break being caught with around 40km to go, as Lidl-Trek set a strong tempo on the front of the peloton. 

Following the work of his teammates, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) attacked on the Col de la Grande Limite with 38.5km to go and was followed by Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious). 

Up front, Skjelmose was doing most of the pace setting initially, until, with around 33km to go, the trio started to cooperate well as their gap grew towards 0:20.

Unfortunately for the trio, Igor Arrieta (UAE Emirates-XRG) buried himself at the front of the peloton. This reduced the gap to within touching distance, and Martinez was swept up by the peloton on the Côte des Roberts. 

This allowed Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to try and close the last bit of the gap as he launched an acceleration, but it was ultimately Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) who closed the gap with Martinez back on the wheel.

The American rider started to push the pace at the front right away as a group of around 11 riders formed, one that slightly swelled in size on the descent.

With 22km to go, the front group had an advantage of 0:10 over a larger peloton, and Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) somewhat casually rolled his way off the front on the Côte de Grâne.

Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched an attack at the crest of the climb, and the Frenchman quickly closed the gap to Piganzoli. 

Jorgenson then counter-attacked with Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) on the wheel on a long flat section of road. The duo built an advantage well, partly thanks to hesitation in the group behind because of the number of Visma riders present.

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) caught the chase group and launched an immediate attack, with Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar) following the American champion.

Onto the steep Mur d'Allex with under 15km remaining, the front duo had around 0:30 over Simmons and Cepeda, who were caught and passed by Cosnefroy. Behind, Tulett suffered a crash on a corner. 

With 10km to go, the front duo were 0:25 ahead of Cosnefroy, with the chasing pack at 0:40.

Cosnefroy was eventually caught at the gap between the front duo, and the peloton was trimmed to under 0:30 with 2km remaining.

Onto the final climb to Étoile-sur-Rhône under the flamme rouge, Jorgenson and Grégoire started to hesitate, which meant the gap rapidly dwindled. 

Gregoire launched just as the peloton almost made contact, and the Frenchman’s acceleration was powerful enough to give him time to celebrate victory, as Jorgenson rolled in for second and Martinez took third after a busy day of racing.