The weekend brings our first outing of the season in France, at the Ardèche Classic (Saint-Péray – Guilherand-Grangesand, 165.9km) and Drôme Classic (Montoison – Etoile-sur-Rhône, 189km), two races which our team has won a combined total of five times.

Huby close to top ten on home soil

A total of eight climbs awaited the peloton at the start of the Ardèche Classic, which took place around the town of Guilherand-Granges, over a distance of 168.6 kilometers. As was the case at the past editions, the race came to life only on the penultimate of these hills, Saint-Romain-de-Lerps, where a four-man group jumped clear from the bunch, building a gap that quickly ballooned to one minute.

Behind, a chasing group featuring several Soudal Quick-Step riders formed and tried to reduce the deficit, but after a promising start to their quest, the margin went up again on the steep slopes of the short but brutal Val d’Enfer ascent. Eventually, the group stayed away and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) took the win, while Antoine Huby finished as our best placed rider, in 12th position.

“It was a hard race, but I like this type of race, with a tough beginning and final part. It was great to compete in front of my home supporters, I was very motivated and I’m content with how things went. Paul did a top job for me today and I gave my best on the last two ascents. It’s a good and promising result for the next races with the team”, explained Antoine at the finish.

 

Photo credit: ©Billy Ceusters / Getty Images

Race details

1 Juan Ayuso Pesquera
UAE Team Emirates
4:23:34
2 Romain Grégoire
Groupama - FDJ
0:00
3 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen
Lidl - Trek
0:00
4 Felix Gall
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:00
5 Maxim Van Gils
Lotto Dstny
0:04
6 Kevin Vermaerke
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
0:04
7 Lorenzo Rota
Intermarché - Wanty
0:04
8 Jordan Jegat
TotalEnergies
0:04
9 Aurélien Paret-Peintre
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
0:04
10 Igor Arrieta Lizarraga
UAE Team Emirates
0:04
12 Antoine Huby
Soudal Quick-Step
0:04
20 James Knox
Soudal Quick-Step
0:07
28 Louis Vervaeke
Soudal Quick-Step
1:01
43 Pieter Serry
Soudal Quick-Step
3:31
72 Fausto Masnada
Soudal Quick-Step
9:11
83 Paul Magnier
Soudal Quick-Step
12:09
DNF Gil Gelders
Soudal Quick-Step
-04:23:34

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