Results Etoile de Bessèges 2026 | Tom Crabbe takes first Team Flanders - Baloise victory since 2024

Since August 2024 that Team Flanders - Baloise didn't manage to win a UCI race. Today at the Etoile de Bességes, the year and a half drought has come to an end as Tom Crabbe took a surprising win on the opening stage of the French race where the Belgian team took the spotlight.

Ward Vanhoof, Léndre Huck, Jaakko Hänninen and Guillaume Bagou have formed the day's breakaway, a late formation on the opening stage of the French race. Groupama - FDJ and Decathlon CMA CGM Team put on the chase in the peloton but it was one that was not well measured. The stage was mostly flat but set to finish up a 800-meter ramp, which is known to put sprinters and puncheurs head to head.

The peloton misunderestimated the ability to keep the speed up front, and this meant that three of the breakaway's riders entered the final climb still in front. Victor Vercouillie managed to attack his group companions and went off the front by himself, looking set for stage victory.

This wasn't the case as the peloton flew up the final ascent, where Lukas Kubis then launched the final sprint first inside the final 300 meters. The group was already at its limit and only Tom Crabbe, teammate of Vercouillie who was caught around the same time, was able to follow Kubis. In the final sharp corner, the Belgian rider managed to overtake the Unibet Rose Rockets rider and take the stage win - the first since 2024 for the Belgian. Three seconds behind, Clément Izquierdo sprinted to third.