2023 Étoile de Bessèges

The 2023 Étoile de Bessèges – Tour du Gard (transl. Star of Bessèges – Tour of Gard) was a road cycling stage race that took place between 1 and 5 February 2023 almost entirely within the French department of Gard. The race was rated as a category 2.1 event on the 2023 UCI Europe Tour calendar, and was the 53rd edition of the Étoile de Bessèges.^[1]

2023 Étoile de Bessèges

2023 UCI Europe Tour
Race details
Dates	1–5 February 2023
Stages	5
Distance	659.68 km (409.9 mi)
Results
Winner  Neilson Powless (USA) (EF Education–EasyPost)   Second  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) (Trek–Segafredo)   Third  Pierre Latour (FRA) (Team TotalEnergies) Points  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) (Lotto–Dstny) Mountains  Vito Braet (BEL) (Team Flanders–Baloise) Youth  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) (Trek–Segafredo)   Team Team TotalEnergies
← 2022 2024 →

Teams

Eight of the 18 UCI WorldTeams, eight UCI ProTeams, and four UCI Continental teams make up the 20 teams that participated in the race.^[2] Each team entered a full squad of seven riders, for a total of 140 riders who started the race.

UCI WorldTeams

• AG2R Citroën Team
• Alpecin–Deceuninck
• Cofidis
• Ineos Grenadiers
• EF Education–EasyPost
• Groupama–FDJ
• Intermarché–Circus–Wanty
• Trek–Segafredo

UCI ProTeams

• Bingoal WB
• Equipo Kern Pharma
• Israel–Premier Tech
• Lotto–Dstny
• Team Flanders–Baloise
• Team TotalEnergies
• Tudor Pro Cycling Team
• Uno-X Pro Cycling Team

UCI Continental Teams

• Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole
• Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur
• St. Michel–Mavic–Auber93
• CIC U Nantes Atlantique

Route

Stage characteristics and winners^[3][4]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Stage winner
1	1 February	Bellegarde to Bellegarde	162.18 km (100.77 mi)		Flat stage	Arnaud De Lie (BEL)
2	2 February	Bagard to Aubais	169.63 km (105.40 mi)		Hilly stage	No winner
3	3 February	Bessèges to Bessèges	169.71 km (105.45 mi)		Hilly stage	Arnaud De Lie (BEL)
4	4 February	Saint-Christol-lès-Alès to Mont Bouquet [fr]	147.5 km (91.7 mi)		Mountain stage	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN)
5	5 February	Alès to Alès	10.66 km (6.62 mi)		Individual time trial	Mads Pedersen (DEN)
Total			659.68 km (409.91 mi)

Stages

Stage 1

1 February 2022 – Bellegarde to Bellegarde, 162.18 km (100.77 mi)^[5]

Stage 1 Result (1–10)[6] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny 3h 30' 35" 2  Mads Pedersen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 0" 3  Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team + 0" 4  Dylan Teuns (BEL) Israel–Premier Tech + 3" 5  Andrea Piccolo (ITA) EF Education–EasyPost + 3" 6  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 5" 7  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 5" 8  Aaron Van Poucke (BEL) Team Flanders–Baloise + 5" 9  Pau Miquel (ESP) Equipo Kern Pharma + 8" 10  Anders Halland Johannessen (NOR) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team + 8"

General classification after Stage 1 (1–10)[6] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny 3h 30' 35" 2  Mads Pedersen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 4" 3  Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team + 6" 4  Dylan Teuns (BEL) Israel–Premier Tech + 13" 5  Andrea Piccolo (ITA) EF Education–EasyPost + 13" 6  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 15" 7  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 15" 8  Aaron Van Poucke (BEL) Team Flanders–Baloise + 15" 9  Pau Miquel (ESP) Equipo Kern Pharma + 18" 10  Anders Halland Johannessen (NOR) Uno-X Pro Cycling Team + 18"

Stage 2

2 February 2022 – Bagard to Aubais, 169.63 km (105.40 mi)^[7]

The stage was neutralised due to a large crash on a bridge about 22 kilometers from the finish. Therefore, no winner was declared and all classifications remained the same from stage 1 heading into stage 3.^[8]

Stage 3

3 February 2022 – Bessèges to Bessèges, 169.71 km (105.45 mi)^[9]

Stage 3 Result (1–10)[10] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny 4h 03' 47" 2  Valentin Ferron (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 0" 3  Samuel Watson (GBR) Groupama–FDJ + 0" 4  Louis Barré (FRA) Arkéa–Samsic + 0" 5  Sep Vanmarcke (BEL) Israel–Premier Tech + 0" 6  Joel Suter (SUI) Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 0" 7  Rémy Mertz (BEL) Bingoal WB + 0" 8  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 0" 9  Greg van Avermaet (BEL) AG2R Citroën Team + 0" 10  Franck Bonnamour (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team + 0"

General classification after Stage 3 (1–10)[10] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny 7h 34' 02" 2  Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA) AG2R Citroën Team + 16" 3  Dylan Teuns (BEL) Israel–Premier Tech + 23" 4  Samuel Watson (GBR) Groupama–FDJ + 24" 5  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 25" 6  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 25" 7  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 28" 8  Ben Tulett (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers + 28" 9  Krists Neilands (LAT) Israel–Premier Tech + 28" 10  Pau Miquel (ESP) Equipo Kern Pharma + 28"

Stage 4

4 February 2022 – Saint-Christol-lès-Alès to Mont Bouquet [fr], 147.5 km (91.7 mi)^[11]

Stage 4 Result (1–10)[12] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo 3h 22' 23" 2  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 0" 3  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 13" 4  Pavel Sivakov (FRA) Ineos Grenadiers + 19" 5  Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa–Samsic + 1' 06" 6  Thibaut Pinot (FRA) Groupama–FDJ + 1' 17" 7  Hugo Houle (CAN) Israel–Premier Tech + 1' 30" 8  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny + 1' 34" 9  Julien Bernard (FRA) Trek–Segafredo + 1' 40" 10  Axel Laurance (FRA) Alpecin–Deceuninck + 1' 53"

General classification after Stage 4 (1–10)[12] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo 10h 56' 40" 2  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 4" 3  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 22" 4  Pavel Sivakov (FRA) Ineos Grenadiers + 1' 00" 5  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny + 1' 19" 6  Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa–Samsic + 1' 26" 7  Thibaut Pinot (FRA) Groupama–FDJ + 1' 37" 8  Hugo Houle (CAN) Israel–Premier Tech + 1' 50" 9  Krists Neilands (LAT) Israel–Premier Tech + 2' 13" 10  Anthony Perez (FRA) Cofidis + 2' 13"

Stage 5

5 February 2022 – Alès to Alès, 10.66 km (6.62 mi), (ITT)^[13]

Stage 5 Result (1–10)[14] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Mads Pedersen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo 15' 25" 2  Joshua Tarling (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers + 8" 3  Ben Tulett (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers + 10" 4  Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa–Samsic + 11" 5  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 15" 6  Magnus Cort (DEN) EF Education–EasyPost + 20" 7  Ben Turner (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers + 20" 8  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost + 21" 9  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 26" 10  Bruno Armirail (FRA) Groupama–FDJ + 26"

General classification after Stage 5 (1–10)[14] Rank Rider Team Time 1  Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education–EasyPost 11h 12' 30" 2  Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN) Trek–Segafredo + 1" 3  Pierre Latour (FRA) Team TotalEnergies + 12" 4  Kévin Vauquelin (FRA) Arkéa–Samsic + 1' 12" 5  Pavel Sivakov (FRA) Ineos Grenadiers + 1' 27" 6  Thibaut Pinot (FRA) Groupama–FDJ + 1' 58" 7  Arnaud De Lie (BEL) Lotto–Dstny + 2' 04" 8  Hugo Houle (CAN) Israel–Premier Tech + 2' 27" 9  Anthony Perez (FRA) Cofidis + 2' 36" 10  Joel Suter (SUI) Tudor Pro Cycling Team + 2' 53"

Classification leadership table

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification [lower-alpha 1]	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification	Team classification
1	Arnaud De Lie	Arnaud De Lie	Arnaud De Lie	Ayco Bastiaens	Arnaud De Lie	EF Education–EasyPost
2	No winner
3	Arnaud De Lie			Vito Braet		Israel–Premier Tech
4	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen			Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Team TotalEnergies
5	Neilson Powless	Neilson Powless
Final		Neilson Powless	Arnaud De Lie	Vito Braet	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen	Team TotalEnergies

• On stage 2, Mads Pedersen, who is second in the points classification, will wear the yellow jersey, because first-placed Arnaud De Lie will wear the coral jersey as the leader of the general classification. For the same reason, Andrea Piccolo will wear the white jersey for being second in the young rider classification.

Current classification standings

Legend
	Denotes the leader of the general classification		Denotes the leader of the mountains classification
	Denotes the leader of the points classification		Denotes the leader of the young rider classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[14]

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Neilson Powless (USA)	EF Education–EasyPost	11h 12' 30"
2	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	+ 1"
3	Pierre Latour (FRA)	Team TotalEnergies	+ 12"
4	Kévin Vauquelin (FRA)	Arkéa–Samsic	+ 1' 12"
5	Pavel Sivakov (FRA)	Ineos Grenadiers	+ 1' 27"
6	Thibaut Pinot (FRA)	Groupama–FDJ	+ 1' 58"
7	Arnaud De Lie (BEL)	Lotto–Dstny	+ 2' 04"
8	Hugo Houle (CAN)	Israel–Premier Tech	+ 2' 27"
9	Anthony Perez (FRA)	Cofidis	+ 2' 36"
10	Joel Suter (SUI)	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	+ 2' 53"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Arnaud De Lie (BEL)	Lotto–Dstny	58
2	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	46
3	Mads Pedersen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	45
4	Neilson Powless (USA)	EF Education–EasyPost	38
5	Pierre Latour (FRA)	Team TotalEnergies	38
6	Kévin Vauquelin (FRA)	Arkéa–Samsic	31
7	Samuel Watson (GBR)	Groupama–FDJ	21
8	Valentin Ferron (FRA)	Team TotalEnergies	20
9	Ben Tulett (GBR)	Ineos Grenadiers	20
10	Joshua Tarling (GBR)	Ineos Grenadiers	20

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Vito Braet (BEL)	Team Flanders–Baloise	34
2	Neilson Powless (USA)	EF Education–EasyPost	26
3	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	23
4	Dries De Bondt (BEL)	Alpecin–Deceuninck	18
5	Kévin Vauquelin (FRA)	Arkéa–Samsic	16
6	Ben Turner (GBR)	Ineos Grenadiers	14
7	Thomas Champion (FRA)	Cofidis	14
8	Mads Pedersen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	13
9	Andrea Mifsud (FRA)	Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur	12
10	Ben Tulett (GBR)	Ineos Grenadiers	10

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (DEN)	Trek–Segafredo	11h 12' 31"
2	Kévin Vauquelin (FRA)	Arkéa–Samsic	+ 1' 11"
3	Arnaud De Lie (BEL)	Lotto–Dstny	+ 2' 03"
4	Pau Miquel (ESP)	Equipo Kern Pharma	+ 3' 07"
5	Axel Laurance (FRA)	Alpecin–Deceuninck	+ 3' 58"
6	Raúl García Pierna (ESP)	Equipo Kern Pharma	+ 4' 09"
7	Jenno Berckmoes (BEL)	Team Flanders–Baloise	+ 5' 32"
8	Louis Barré (FRA)	Arkéa–Samsic	+ 8' 31"
9	Petr Kelemen (CZE)	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	+ 10' 13"
10	Luca Van Boven (BEL)	Bingoal WB	+ 12' 22"

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)

Rank	Team	Time
1	Team TotalEnergies	33h 44' 32"
2	Israel–Premier Tech	+ 1' 37"
3	Cofidis	+ 5' 33"
4	AG2R Citroën Team	+ 7' 07"
5	Tudor Pro Cycling Team	+ 7' 43"
6	Lotto–Dstny	+ 8' 18"
7	Trek–Segafredo	+ 8' 50"
8	Uno-X Pro Cycling Team	+ 11' 07"
9	Arkéa–Samsic	+ 13' 58"
10	Ineos Grenadiers	+ 15' 25"

Notes

1. The general classification leader's jersey is known as the coral jersey.

References

1. "Etoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard". UCI. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
2. "Équipes 2023" [Teams 2023] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
3. "Cyclisme : tout savoir du tracé de l'Étoile de Bessèges dans les Cévennes gardoises" [Cycling: everything you need to know about the Étoile de Bessèges route in the Cévennes in the Gard]. Midi Libre (in French). 30 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
4. Timms, Joe (31 January 2022). "Etoile de Bessèges 2022: Route, predictions and contenders". Rouleur. Gruppo Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
5. "Étape 1" [Stage 1] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
6. Weislo, Laura (1 February 2023). "De Lie outsprints Pedersen to win opening day at Etoile de Bessèges". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
7. "Étape 2" [Stage 2] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
8. O'Shea, Sadhbh (2 February 2023). "Stage 2 of Étoile de Bessèges neutralized after major crash". Velo News. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
9. "Étape 3" [Stage 3] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
10. Weislo, Laura (3 February 2023). "Arnaud De Lie wins crash-marred stage 3 Etoile de Bessèges". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
11. "Étape 4" [Stage 4] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
12. Ostanek, Daniel (4 February 2023). "Skjelmose takes Etoile de Bessèges lead with stage 4 victory". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
13. "Étape 5" [Stage 5] (in French). Étoile de Bessèges. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
14. Tyson, Jackie (5 February 2023). "Powless edges to Etoile de Bessèges overall win with powerful final time trial". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved 5 February 2023.

External links

• Official website