The Paris-Tours classic for under-23s was held for the eightieth time, with a number of cyclists who had previously competed in a Hungarian World Cup. The last part of the 178.4 kilometre stage between Bonneval and Tours featured eight shorter climbs and ten cobbled sectors.

The route was a sieve of a course, with Per Strand Hagenes (Jumbo-Visma Development Team) starting from the front of the pack about a kilometre and a half from the finish and finishing seven seconds ahead of France’s Mathis Le Berre (Cotes d’Armor-Marie Morin-U), while Czech Tomas Kopecky (A Bloc CT) took third place. Tobias Lund Andresen (Development Team DSM), the winner of the first World Youth Cup in Hungary, Visegrád 4 Juniors 2020, also finished in the top ten, finishing ninth, just over a minute behind.

“We did a very good race. It was a strong breakaway on the day but we caught them through my teammates, if we hadn’t worked so hard they would have almost certainly come home. I attacked in the last sector and to my surprise no one came with me, while the chasing pack was controlled by Jesse Kramer and Rick Pluimers, so it was mainly thanks to them that I was able to win this race,” said Hagenes after crossing the finish line.