Étoile de Bessèges

The Étoile de Bessèges (English: Star of Bessèges) is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a stage race run over five days in 1974. Since 2005, it is on the calendar of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event and features as the earliest stage races of the European season.[1]

Étoile de Bessèges
Race details
DateEarly February
RegionGard department,
Occitanie
English nameStar of Bessèges
Local name(s)Étoile de Bessèges (in French)
DisciplineRoad
CompetitionUCI Europe Tour
TypeStage race
Web sitewww.etoiledebesseges.com
History
First edition1971 (1971)
Editions53 (as of 2023)
First winner Jean-Luc Molinéris (FRA)
Most wins Jean-Luc Molinéris (FRA)
 Jo Planckaert (BEL)
 Jérôme Coppel (FRA)
(2 wins)
Most recent Neilson Powless (USA)

The Étoile de Bessèges is the first of several stage races held in the hilly South of France in February, preceding La Méditerranéenne, the Tour du Haut Var and the Tour La Provence.[2] These early-season races are competed mainly by French teams and are considered preparations for Paris–Nice, the first European World Tour event in March.[2]

Winners

Year Country Rider Team
1971  France Jean-Luc Molinéris Sonolor–Lejeune
1972  France Jean-Luc Molinéris Sonolor
1973  France Robert Mintkiewicz Sonolor
1974  France Jacques Esclassan Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1975  France Patrick Béon Peugeot–BP–Michelin
1976  France Maurice Le Guilloux Gan–Mercier
1977  Belgium Willy Planckaert Maes–Mini Flat
1978  West Germany Dietrich Thurau IJsboerke–Gios
1979  France Jacques Michaud Flandria–Ça va seul
1980  Belgium Franky De Gendt TI–Raleigh
1981  Netherlands Jan Raas TI–Raleigh
1982  Netherlands Cees Priem TI–Raleigh
1983  Netherlands Bert Oosterbosch TI–Raleigh
1984  Belgium Eddy Planckaert Panasonic
1985  Belgium Guy Nulens Panasonic
1986   Switzerland Niki Rüttimann La Vie Claire
1987  France Ronan Pensec Z–Peugeot
1988  Netherlands Adri van der Poel PDM–Concorde
1989  Belgium Etienne De Wilde Histor–Sigma
1990  Netherlands Frans Maassen Buckler
1991  Netherlands Ad Wijnands Team Telekom
1992   Switzerland Beat Zberg Helvetia
1993  France Armand de Las Cuevas Banesto
1994  Netherlands Jean-Paul van Poppel Festina–Lotus
1995  Ukraine Sergei Oetsjakov Polti–Granarolo–Santini
1996  Czech Republic Ján Svorada Panaria–Vinavil
1997  France Patrice Halgand Festina–Lotus
1998  Belgium Jo Planckaert Lotto–Mobistar
1999  France David Lefèvre Casino–Ag2r Prévoyance
2000  Belgium Jo Planckaert Cofidis
2001  Belgium Niko Eeckhout Lotto–Adecco
2002  Australia Robbie McEwen Lotto–Adecco
2003  Italy Fabio Baldato Alessio
2004  France Laurent Brochard AG2R Prévoyance
2005  France Freddy Bichot Française des Jeux
2006  Belgium Frederik Willems Chocolade Jacques
2007  Belgium Nick Nuyens Cofidis
2008  Russia Iouri Trofimov Bouygues Télécom
2009  France Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom
2010  France Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis
2011  France Anthony Ravard Ag2r–La Mondiale
2012  France Jérôme Coppel Saur–Sojasun
2013  France Jonathan Hivert Sojasun
2014  Sweden Tobias Ludvigsson Giant–Shimano
2015  Luxembourg Bob Jungels Trek Factory Racing
2016  France Jérôme Coppel IAM Cycling
2017  France Lilian Calmejane Direct Énergie
2018  France Tony Gallopin AG2R La Mondiale
2019  France Christophe Laporte Cofidis
2020  France Benoît Cosnefroy AG2R La Mondiale
2021  Belgium Tim Wellens Lotto–Soudal
2022  France Benjamin Thomas Cofidis
2023  United States Neilson Powless EF Education–EasyPost

References

  1. "Étoile de Bessèges – Et. 5 : Les réactions". directvelo.com (in French). Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  2. "News shorts: New French stage race planned for February". Cycling News. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
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