Sunday’s conclusion of the Tour de la Provence was a very flat 190km between Rognac and Arles which ended, as expected, in a bunch sprint. Bahrain Victorious finished with Matej Mohorič on the second step of the final podium and Fred Wright in fourth overall.

The stage was won by Sam Bennett (DAT), who had also prevailed on the opening day, but the result was slightly overshadowed by a huge crash just 100m from the line. Pascal Ackermann (IPT) lost control of his bike after hitting a speed bump, and a pile up ensued. Happily there appear to be no serious injuries to any of the riders involved, including Bahrain’s Matevž Govekar. The Slovenian escaped with some superficial wounds and bruises.

Just up ahead, Bennett and race leader Mads Pedersen (LTK) avoided the incident, meaning that the Dane retained the yellow jersey to take overall victory by 13 seconds from Mohorič. Wright was a further 10 seconds back on the same time as Marjin van den Berg (EFE), losing out on the podium only because of the aggregated stage placings. Alessandro Borgo, from Bahrain’s Development Team, had an excellent end to his first appearance with the senior team, finishing in eighth place on the day.

Sports Director Michal Golaś was more than satisfied with the performance of the team over the three days:

“We can be satisfied with this weekend. The boys did a really really good job: they stuck to the plan 100%. Everybody was where they should be at the right points, and they also showed good form at the beginning of the season. It’s more confirmation that the work they’ve done over the winter pays off.”

While these races take place very early in the year, they do provide a useful measure of form for bigger events that are to ‘Opening Weekend’, with Omloop Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, is just 2 weeks away.

The gaps in the General Classification were predictably small ahead of Sunday, so it was always going to be a tense finale to this 9th edition of the Tour de la Provence. Golaś concludes,

“We knew that the GC was still open and that there would be a big fight for the bonus time as well as the finish. Fred did a god job, and while the podium would have been nice for him but in races like this when it’s all about the bonuses and tiny time gaps, this can happen. We are happy with 4th place because there are a lot of races in front of us and this gives us a lot of confidence.”

“I think Matej showed great form for the beginning of the season, which gives plenty of confidence going forward. It wasn’t just the result here at the race though, he also really took care of this group of young guys; guiding them, as well as helping Freddy to take some of those bonus seconds in the stages. He achieved his own result but he was also a really key team player for us which was great to see, and we appreciate that a lot.”

Bahrain Victorious are next in action at the UAE Tour (February 17th – 23rd), and the Volta ao Algarve (February 19th – 23rd).