The Classic Var kicked off a weekend of racing in the south of France this Friday, and an uphill finish decided the day’s winner in Fayence. After an intense effort, Quentin Pacher took ninth place on the line, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet eleventh and Kevin Geniets thirteenth, while Christian Scaroni claimed victory. Some rather mountainous profiles are now looming on the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes from tomorrow.
The Groupama-FDJ cycling team lined up on the Classic Var this Friday as defending champion, after Lenny Martinez’s victory in 2024 at the top of Mont Faron. For this second edition, however, the peloton was set to join Fayence after 164 kilometres, with a 1,200-uphill finish averaging almost 10%. Also, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet was making his debut with his new jersey while the team took the start without David Gaudu, who got injured the day before. As for the race, the day was supposed to be quite calm before the final, and it was indeed. Five men joined the day’s breakaway, which was easily controlled by the peloton. “The course was really not difficult, and having offensive ambitions was nonsense,” explained Yvon Caër. “All the teams thought the same, so nothing happened, as expected.” “There was no particular action,” also testified Quentin Pacher. “We spent a large part of the day with a front wind, which tends to block the race. Apart from those who worked at the front of the peloton, everyone was fresh as we approached the finish, and we knew that the fight for positions would be very nervous.”
“I wanted to do my own effort”, Quentin Pacher
In the last ten kilometres, the tension clearly increased before tackling the Mur de Fayence. “The goal was to be in a good position but without taking any unnecessary risks and without spending too much energy”, said Quentin. “The goal is ultimately not to be positioned at the bottom, but to be positioned at the top”. “Everyone was fresh, so it was hard”, added Yvon Caër. “Still, Quentin and Guillaume’s positioning at the bottom was quite satisfying, then it came down to a punchy effort”. Quentin Pacher got himself in the mix early on. “Things calmed down a little after the very first part of the climb, as expected,” he explained. “That’s when we all got back into position to be up there before the steep part. I wanted to do my own effort and not get stuck in the traffic, so I went a bit early, trying to spread my effort out as much as possible so that I could hold on until the summit.” After a few seconds, however, Victor Lafay and Paul Lapeira counterattacked him, but it was Christian Scaroni who took the win at the finish.
Quentin Pacher still managed to secure a place in the top 10 (9th) while Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (11th) and Kevin Geniets (13th) were not far behind either. “For a first day of racing in Europe, it’s satisfying,” said Quentin. “It wasn’t too bad for a return to racing, and on a steep climb that didn’t suit me perfectly,” confided Guillaume. Yvon Caër concluded: “We missed something to compete with the very best but having three men up there still shows that the condition is good. Tomorrow, the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes will start with the hardest stage of the weekend. We hope there will be some racing before the final”.
