Etoile de Bessèges: Axel Laurance wins stage 2; Mads Pedersen beaten in gruelling uphill sprint

The Etoile de Bessèges began with a hilly stage and a difficult uphill finale. Mads Pedersen was the man to beat, and he was as under-23 World Champion Axel Laurance took the spotlight and crossed the line for an impressive victory.

With the farmers' protests in France finally not hindering the start of the Etoile de Bessèges, the second day of the race got the green light to go forward. Without a race leader, stage 2 began with a breakaway of three riders going up the road: Matisse Julien, Maximilien Juilard and Jean-Louis Le Ny.

The trio never enjoyed much of a gap, as Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost and Equipo Kern Pharma kept a high pace in the peloton. The group was ultmately caught with just a few kilometers to go as the peloton furiously headed towards the hilltop finish.

900 meters at 9%, Lidl-Trek entered the ascent in the head of the peloton. Rémy Rochas launched a dangerous attack with 500 meters to go. Axel Laurance was then the first to launch the sprint, alongside Mads Pedersen. The ramp to the line proved brutal but the under-23 World Champion was the fastest in the run-up to the line and scored a brilliant victory and the first race lead. He beat Mads Pedersen and Kévin Vauquelin.