An authentic finisher's masterclass, the one pulled off by Per Strand Hagenes at the finish line of Paris-Tours. The Norwegian from Visma Lease a Bike responded brilliantly to Toms Skujins' (Lidl Trek) attack 1,400 meters from the finish, caught him, overtook him and drove straight ahead, brilliantly resisting Jasper Stuyven's comeback attempt, while the other members of the move that decided the race settled for battling for third place, with Christophe Laport regulating his rivals.

The decisive action developed in the final 8 kilometers, once all the gravel sections in the heart of the Loire vineyards had been passed. Those who gained an advantage were Laporte and Hagenes from Visma, Stuyven from Soudal, Senechal from Alpecin, Lapeira and Rasmus Pedersen from Decathlon, Abrahamsen from Uno-X, Skujins from Lidl Trek, Grisel from Lotto, Gruel from Groupama, Askey from NSN. The eleven worked together to repel comeback attempts from other groups, then Skujins' attack and Hagenes' response broke the race wide open.

RIDERS' PROTEST. As yesterday at Il Lombardia, today the riders also protested by delaying the race start by five minutes. Like yesterday, the riders read a statement, this time delivered by Dorian Godon's voice, and like yesterday they presented a clear request:

«We call on the UCI to intervene so that race organizers take responsibility and act. This means serious and open dialogue between riders, organizers and the UCI, leading to concrete changes in how race routes are secured and managed.

After five minutes, we resumed racing as usual. We didn't want to compromise the race, but only to demonstrate what riders can do when united on a single front.

We love this sport. We respect race organizers. We want to race at our best and provide a spectacle for our fans. But, most importantly of all, we want to return home safe to our loved ones».

RACE RESULTS

1 HAGENES Per Strand TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE in 4h31'46"
2 STUYVEN Jasper SOUDAL QUICK-STEP + 02"
3 LAPORTE Christophe TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE
4 GRISEL Matys LOTTO INTERMARCHE
5 ABRAHAMSEN Jonas UNO-X MOBILITY
6 LAPEIRA Paul DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM
7 GRUEL Thibaud GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED
8 ASKEY Lewis NSN CYCLING TEAM
9 SENECHAL Florian ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH
10 SKUJINS Toms LIDL-TREK + 09"