Ivo Oliveira (UAE Staff Emirates) claimed a slender victory within the 4.1 kilometre prologue of the Boucles de la Mayenne in Laval, France.
The Portuguese rider blasted to the victory on the technical circuit and took the primary race chief’s jersey by two seconds over Axel Zingle (Cofidis) with Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R Citroën) third by one second additional behind.
Oliveira will carry the chief’s jersey into a tricky stage 2 of the four-day occasion when the peloton faces a lumpy 185.2 kilometre stage from Saint-Mars-sur-Colmont to Lassay-les-Châteaux.
Defending champion Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) didn’t return to reclaim the title of the race which has alternately been received by sprinters and classics specialists.
In 2021, Arnaud Démare received three of the 4 phases, the general and dash classifications.
The Frenchman is within the hunt once more this 12 months, inserting sixth within the prologue. Cosnefroy, final 12 months’s runner-up, is probably going the largest risk to a repeat of 2021.
