Neilson Powless takes solo win at GP La Marseillaise

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Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) took a stunning solo victory in the GP La Marseillaise, attacking a 9-man breakaway on the final ascent of the riviera race, as Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) won the sprint for second from Brent Van Moer (Lotto-Dstny).

The American rider made a blistering descending attack ahead of the Col de la Gineste - which was the final climb of the day sitting 13km ahead of the finish line - forging a gap over a chasing group of nine riders.

The day’s successful breakaway of 10 riders, including Brent Van Moer and Valentin Ferron, began to watch one another on the decisive final climb, offering Neilson Powless a 25-second gap at the summit.

Powless kept his lead over the summit, despite some laboured pedal strokes, and began a renewed solo effort as he swept down the descent. 

The breakaway, now clearly out of contention for the win, began to tussle for position while the main peloton grew ever closer - eventually only 40 seconds behind the lead group - and It was Ferron who had the better of the Belgian Lotto-Dstny rider.

At the finish, second-place Valentin Ferron spoke highly of Powless’ form. “He did an attack just before the Ginestre and managed to keep that pace really well,” he explained. “I think he was absolutely the strongest today.

“It was a reassurance to finish in second place - the legs were good, and I feel that all the work which was done over the winter has been validated.”

Powless' eventual margin of victory was 1:15, with the main peloton back 1:55 behind the race winner.

How it unfolded

A cold but beautiful day in Marseille hosted the start of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise, to use its full name, and a small four-man breakaway was allowed to establish a gap in the opening kilometres.

The group of four contained Florian Rapiteau (St-Michel-Mavic-Auber 93), Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ), Maël Guégan (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Petr Kelemen (Tudor Pro Cycling Team).

The breakaway managed to keep a healthy margin over the race’s early undulations, which reached a high point of 729m at the top of the Col de l'Espigoulier some 80km into the stage.

With 65km remaining, the four-man breakaway had a margin of around 4:15, but they faced one of the day’s more brutal ascents (alongside a motivated peloton) as they began to climb the Route des Crêtes which would summit with around 50km remaining.

The gap was reduced to just over one minute, as Florian Rapiteau found himself dropped from the group, while Tudor Pro Cycling’s promising escapee Petr Kelemen also lost contact but maintained a bridgeable gap over the top of the climb.

Paleni and Guegan rode over the summit of the Route des Crêtes together as attacks began to fly in the main group - including a committed but doomed effort from Dylan Teuns.

In the course of the subsequent descent and lower slopes of the Pas d’Ouillier, a more considerable break managed to peel away from the main group - containing Neilson Powless, Valentin Ferron, Brent Van Moer, Jenno Berckmoes (Team Flanders-Baloise), Krists Neilands (Israel-Premier Tech), Thibault Guernalec (Team Arkéa-Samsic), Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Cofidis).

It swept up the remnants of the day’s earlier breakaway, with Paleni and Kelemen managing to join the larger group, while Guegan briefly held pace but was soon left behind.

The breakaway had a 30-second advantage at the 25km to go mark, which grew out to 1:20 with 15km remaining, and the final climb of Col de la Gineste sitting between them and victory in Marseille.

Powless made a blinding attack on the descent toward the final climb, which rapidly opened up a gap of 25 seconds as Powless began on the shallow slopes of the climb.

While struggling to expand his gap against the nine chasers, indecision and a lack of collaboration allowed him to maintain a narrow gap over the summit before he showcased considerable descending skills to expand back to a 40-second lead as he entered the city of Marseille.

As Powless rode beneath the flamme rouge, the remaining chasers knew that they could only sprint for second place, a sprint which Ferron won by a narrow margin.

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