Tour de Luxembourg 2025 Stage 1 Results | Romain Gregoire backs up Tour of Britain success with another punchy sprint win

Following his recent Tour of Britain win, Romain Gregoire has done it again in Luxembourg on stage 1, powering to a brutal uphill sprint win on Wednesday ahead of Marijn van den Berg and Marc Hirschi, into the leader's jersey to boot.

The day's expected breakaway finally formed just before the Montée de Putscheid. On an uncategorised rise, six riders managed to pry themselves clear, quickly gaining over three minutes. The move comprised Andrea Pietrobon, Quentin Bezza, André Carvalho, Mats Berns and Mil Morang, and by 113km to go they had 3:20 in hand on the bunch.

As the race hit the Montée de Putscheid and then the Côte de Bourscheid, the bunch steadily trimmed the gap, keeping the escapees at less than two minutes. The rolling terrain has taken its toll, and the sprinter-friendly teams look well-placed to bring things back together ahead of the finale in Luxembourg City.

With 72km remaining, Lidl–Trek took responsibility through Jacopo Mosca, working for Mattias Skjelmose. At that point, the break’s lead was down to 1:55. On the Côte de Eschdorf at 62km to go, the gap nudged back above two minutes, with the escapees holding 2:17. By 55km to go, just before the intermediate sprint in Mertzig, the margin was sitting at 2:10.

The break then split after the sprint in Mertzig, with the peloton also reducing the deficit to under two minutes at 49km from the finish. By 38km to go, only Andrea Pietrobon, Quentin Bezza, André Carvalho, Malte Hellerup and Mil Morang remained out front, their advantage cut to just 1:18.

Soon after, the move fractured further: at 31km, only Pietrobon and Morang were left at the head of the race, with Bezza, Carvalho and Hellerup caught in between and the peloton closing at 1:35. By 25km to go, the bunch was flying and had trimmed the gap to just a minute as the leaders approached the second and final intermediate sprint in Mersch.

At 21km to go, Bezza, Carvalho and Hellerup were swept up by the peloton. Pietrobon won the sprint in Mersch ahead of Morang, but their lead was down to just 45 seconds over the main field. With 12km to go, they were then caught by the bunch.

With a punchy sprint finish then deciding the day, it was eventually Romain Gregoire who celebrated success, seeing off the challenge of Marijn van den Berg and Marc Hirschi.