Tour de La Provence (st. 1)

Matteo up to seventh overall after making decisive 27-rider split in chaotic stage one. Gorka unable to continue with deep cuts on his face, blows to shoulder, hip; no fractures revealed.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Movistar Team at a hectic stage one of the Tour de La Provence (UCI ProSeries; FRA), held on Friday over 151km between Istres and a windy, finishing circuit in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the Camargue area, with former European champion Elia Viviani (IGD) taking the day’s honours.

A group of about twenty riders got together to the finish at the front, after echelons formed due to crosswinds with more than hundred kilometers from the end. While Matteo Jorgenson, strong and intelligent as few others, made the right move and finished in a solid 9th -with no lost time-, the Blues had to regret a DNF during the stage due to a crash, as the split formed, with Gorka Izagirre involved.

The Basque allrounder sustained deep cuts to his face, with inflammation on his cheek and chin after a significant impact. The race doctor’s official communiqué also pointed out Izagirre had suffered significant blows to his shoulder and hip. The veteran Spaniard, making here his ‘reentrée’ in Movistar Team colours, was transferred to the Hospital d’Arles, where checkups ruled out any fractures. Gorka, who received several stitches to heal his wounds, will return home Saturday.

Jorgenson now sits in 7th overall, 21″ behind race leader Filippo Ganna (IGD) and just 10″ off the podium, with two days to go in southern France. Saturday’s stage two will bring a lumpy circuit, with a hilly finish, in Manosque -where Matteo himself already did well in 2021 before a crash into the sprint-, right before Sunday’s decisive mountain-top finish in Lure.