A week after a Hell of the North which had never so aptly borne its name, and will be remembered, the 115th edition of the Paris-Tours benefited from much more lenient conditions for the last outing of the peloton of the season. An edition, accompanied by a soft sun all along its route, on which Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) won after a breathless sprint, this Sunday at the finish in the city center of Tours (Indre-et-Loire).
Starting from Chartres shortly before noon, the 30-year-old Frenchman successfully negotiated the 212.3 km of the route, including the last 50 dotted with nine vineyards and seven hills, to snatch victory at the finish just ahead of Breton Franck Bonnamour. (B&B Hotels KTM) and the Belgian Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo). “After the middle of the season that I spent, it was difficult. Always there without winning, I never gave up. This time it turns, that’s it! Winning in the last race of the season, in this way, I’m really very happy, ”said the sprinter, on France 3 after the race.
Madiot: “Gentlemen, you have good morning”
Back on the leading duo 200 meters from the finish, he worked perfectly to obtain his first victory in four months, acquired on the Route d’Occitanie. For the Super-combative Bonnamour, who had revealed himself on the Tour de France by being one of the organizers of the event, a first career success was played out.
Démare succeeds the Dane Casper Pedersen, dropped in the Côte de la Rochère and who won last year in a two-man sprint with Benoît Cosnefroy. He becomes the first Frenchman to offer himself the “Classic of dead leaves” since 2006 and Frédéric Guesdon, for the centenary edition.
Enough to satisfy his manager Marc Madiot, with his usual verve: “Starts the merit. I read social media quite a bit. There are people who don’t have a lot of memory. Just look at the track record he has and he still puts on a good line today. Gentlemen, you have good morning. “.
