Lenny Martinez became the Classic Var champion. This one-day race, which was added to the calendar for the first time this year, finished at Mont Faron, a 5.7 kilometer climb with an average gradient of 8.4%.
Dramatic comeback
The competition was marked by an unexpected twist when Kevin Vauquelin, one of the favorites for victory, crashed early and had to abandon the race. However, six cyclists took advantage of the situation to separate themselves from the pack and established an advantage of more than four minutes.
Mont Faron, the final battlefield
As Mont Faron approached, the advantage of the six cyclists ahead steadily diminished. Despite Van Niekerk’s resistance, he was captured just 14 km from the finish line. At the end of the race, on the last climb of Mont Faron, Guillaume Martin, who had problems during the race, was missing from the leaders. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Groupama-FDJ kept the pressure high, which led to an attack from Romain Grégoire, joined by Bastien Tronchon and Tobias Halland Johannessen.
Surprise on arrival
However, the fight for victory was far from being decided. Team DSM-Firmenich’s Kevin Vermaerke and Romain Bardet were still in contention. On the last climb, David Gaudu and Michael Woods, both favorites, tried several times to start a breakout, but without success. In the end, Lenny Martinez came from behind and surprised Tobias Halland Johanessen who was already celebrating the victory.
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Classic VAR 2024 results
