Paul Magnier wins bunch sprint at GP de Fourmies

Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) won GP de Fourmies / La Voix du Nord with a late acceleration in the bunch sprint on Sunday. Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) finished second and Yevgeniy Fedorov (XDS Astana) took third.

The final 11km circuit saw Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto) and Léandre Huck (Veloce Club Rouen 76) keeping hopes alive from the original five-rider breakaway, with a 25-second gap on the field. The trio was caught with under 4km to go in Fourmies to set up the frantic sprint of the peloton, more than 100 riders strong approaching the line.

In the closing kilometre, Elmar Reinders set the pace for Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) at the front of the swarm of riders. Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) then attacked, but it was 21-year-old Magnier who made the strongest move and won with room to spare.

“I am delighted I could win again this year in front of my countrymen. I came here with a lot of motivation and confidence, knowing I could rely on a strong team and a great lead-out. The guys were fantastic the whole day and did their best to bring me where I needed to be when things began heating up, and I am happy I could finish it off,” said Magnier in a team statement.

The French 1.Pro race returned for a 92nd edition for the men, after the women's one-day race in Fourmies wrapped up earlier on Sunday with the victory by Lorena Wiebes. The 193km men's contest began with two intermediate sprints before hitting the larger circuit around Fourmies, the short climbs at Côte Bocquet (600 metres at 6.2%%) and Sacré Coeur (1km at 5.3%) featuring three times each on the circuits.

With 40km covered a group of five riders had formed the breakaway - Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana), Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto), Léandre Huck (Veloce Club Rouen 76), Célestin Guillon (Van Rysel Roubaix) and Antoine Hue (CIC-U-Nantes). They worked together on the large circuit and crossed the finish line together for the first time to begin the local circuits with 63km remaining.

The peloton had 1:50 to recover to the five riders over six small laps, Tudor Pro Cycling, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Soudal-QuickStep doing the majority of the work to reel them back.

With rain beginning to fall, there were three crashes on the first three circuits in the peloton, with all rejoining the proceedings.

Guillon and Hue faded on the penultimate lap, leaving two other French riders to carry on with Teunissen at the front of the race, the breakaway's advantage down to 30 seconds.

On the final lap, Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) was a surprise withdrawal from the race, apparently having been involved in a crash with under 35km to go, but no details directly after the race.

With 3.5km to go, the fast-charging peloton had sights on the leaders, and one by one they were absorbed into the field, now a bunch sprint set up for the finish. Magnier timed his attack perfectly to secure his sixth victory of the year.

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