The 2017 Étoile de Bessèges () was a
road cycling
Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...
stage race
A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a racing, race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day race, multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages ...
that took place between 1 and 5 February 2017. The race was rated as a
2.1 event as part of the
2017 UCI Europe Tour
The 2017 UCI Europe Tour was the thirteenth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2017 season began on 26 January 2017 with the Vuelta a Mallorca, Trofeo SantanyÃ-Ses Salines-Campos and ended on 17 October 2017 with the Nationale Sluitingsprijs.
Be ...
, and was the 47th edition of the
Étoile de Bessèges
The Étoile de 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 ...
cycling race.
The race included five stages; the first four were road stages while the fifth and final stage was an
individual time trial
An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...
. The champion of the
2016 Étoile de Bessèges
The 2016 Étoile de Bessèges () was a road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race that took place between 3 and 7 February 2016. The race was rated as a 2.1 event as part of the 2016 UCI Europe Tour. It was the 46th edition of the Étoile de Bess ...
,
Jérôme Coppel
Jérôme Coppel (born 6 August 1986) is a French former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2016 for the , , and teams.
Career
Born in Annemasse, Haute-Savoie, Coppel and compatriot Romain Sicard were the focus of a fo ...
, did not defend his title as he had retired from professional cycling at the end of the 2016 season.
rider
Lilian Calmejane took the first professional stage race win of his career,
after fending off a late charge from 's
Tony Gallopin
Tony Gallopin (born 24 May 1988) is a French former professional Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2023. During his career, he won a stage at the 2014 Tour de France and the 2018 Vuelta a Españ ...
in the final stage time trial. Calmejane – who won the third stage of the race – held an 18-second lead over Gallopin going into the time trial, but despite Gallopin's best efforts, setting a time some 13 seconds quicker than anyone else, Calmejane was able to retain the race leader's orange jersey by 5 seconds. The podium was completed by the best young rider of the race,
Mads Würtz Schmidt
Mads Würtz Schmidt (born 31 March 1994) is a Danish racing cyclist, who rides for gravel team PAS Racing. He rode at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships. In May 2018, he was named in the startlist for the 2018 Giro d'Italia. In July 2019, he ...
from , 24 seconds down on Calmejane. The race's other classifications were won by rider
Nico Denz for the mountains classification, while 's
Alexander Kristoff
Alexander Kristoff (born 5 July 1987) is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam .
A sprinter and classics rider, Kristoff is the most successful Norwegian cyclist by number of wins, having taken alm ...
won the points classification.
Teams
Nineteen teams were invited to start the race. These included four
UCI WorldTeam
A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...
s, nine
UCI Professional Continental
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
teams and six
UCI Continental
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
teams.
Route
Stages
Stage 1
;1 February 2017 —
Bellegarde to
Beaucaire,
Stage 2
;2 February 2017 —
Nîmes
Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
to
Rodilhan,
Stage 3
;3 February 2017 —
Bessèges
Bessèges (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in France. It is situated on the river Cèze.
History
Historically Bessèges was a hamlet of Robiac-Rochessadoule, Robiac. Its importance began wit ...
to Bessèges,
Stage 4
;4 February 2017 —
Chusclan to
Laudun-l'Ardoise
Laudun-l'Ardoise (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is located on the departmental border with Va ...
,
Stage 5
;5 February 2017 —
Alès
Alès () is a Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Until 1926, i ...
to Alès, ,
individual time trial
An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...
(ITT)
Classification leadership table
In the 2017 Étoile de Bessèges, four different jerseys were awarded. For the
general classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulati ...
, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers at intermediate sprints and at the finish of mass-start stages, the leader received an orange jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the 2017 Étoile de Bessèges, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
Additionally, there was a
points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points c ...
, which awarded a yellow jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a mass-start stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 25 points, with 20 for second, 16 for third, 13 for fourth, 11 for fifth with a point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th place. Points towards the classification could also be accrued at intermediate sprint points during each stage; these intermediate sprints also offered bonus seconds towards the general classification. There was also a
mountains classification
The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used.
While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest p ...
, the leadership of which was marked by a blue jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a climb before other cyclists, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey. This was decided in the same way as the general classification, but only riders born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to be ranked in the classification.
References
External links
*
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Etoile de Besseges
Etoile de Besseges
Étoile de Bessèges