Mads Pedersen wins opening stage of Circuit Cycliste Sarthe

The opening day of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe saw a hilly circuit around the town of Mamers which proved itself hard to control, with lots of attacks making for a reduced group up front capable of fighting for the stage win. Important gaps for the overall classification have been made, and emerging victorious from the stage came Trek - Segafredo's Mads Pedersen who is the first leader of the race.

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In the small group sprint that took place, Pedersen took advantage of an accidental leadout to hit the front and as the strongest sprinter of the group, take another win in France that was added to his triumphs in Bessèges and Paris-Nice. He beat Benoît Cosnefroy and Axel Zingle to the line.