Laurence Pithie (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) claimed an emphatic victory on the opening stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, out-sprinting Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Lewis Askey (NSN) at the Citadelle de Laon.
Askey started his sprint early into a sweeping bend leading to the finish but could not hold off the charging Kiwi, who secured the overall race leader's jersey with his victory.
It was Pithie's second win within the space of a week after taking out the Rund um Köln on Sunday.
"The team did an excellent job today," Pithie said. "It was a relatively easy day, but the final lap was a real challenge. I gave it my all on the home stretch. I’m very happy with this victory. Köln has given me a lot of confidence for this week.
How it unfolded
It was a mixed bag of weather for the 177.3km opening stage from Lagny-le-Sec to Laon, with light showers affecting the mid-point of the stage, but fortunately letting up before the technical finale.
The day's early breakaway took a while to form, but eventually Tom Mainguenaud and Victor Papon (Nice Métropole Côte d'Azur) and Kévin Avoine and Arnaud Tendon (Van Rysel Roubaix) and Lenaic Langella (CIC Academy) went clear after 28 kilometres of racing.
The peloton kept their lead to less than a minute, but after Langella was dropped with 68km to go, the quartet held a lead of around 90 seconds.
However, the peloton began to chase more earnestly with 40km to go and reduced it quickly to half a minute.
Before the final intermediate sprint, the breakaway's gap was down to 10 seconds with 24km to go. In the rush to survive to the sprint line, Mainguenaud and Avoine lost touch with Papon and Tendon.
Papon led Tendon across the line and then the breakaway was promptly swept up by the peloton at the start of the final circuit with 21km to go.
However, after winning three of the four classified mountain sprints, Papon walked away with the mountains jersey for the next day.
On the twisting, undulating final lap, there were attacks and crashes but nothing could disrupt the sprinters' ambitions.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe led into the final climb to the line at the Citadelle de Laon but a crash mid-pack caused some consternation.
NSN, Groupama-FDJ United and Ineos got through to take the lead, with Askey leading into the final bend only to be overhauled by Pithie for the win.
Results
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