00:00Welcome to the 120th edition of Paris Tour.
00:04This end of season classic so often goes hand in hand with a few long awaited retirements
00:09while bringing the curtain down on a season full of emotion.
00:12All eyes on one man Matteo Trenton, the defending champion chasing a record fourth win through
00:17the vineyard tracks.
00:19The Tudor rider knows the course inside out but he isn't expecting the race's course
00:23to play out quite the same way.
00:25It's going to be different compared to last year, the wind is the opposite direction so
00:30it's going to be mainly headwind compared from the tailwind of last year so I think we're
00:33going to have like a kind of a slower race so maybe people keep coming back and it will
00:40be maybe more tactical than last year was more like explosive and attacks everywhere.
00:44He'll face stiff competition from those in form notably Paul Lepera, 7th at the Grand
00:49Prix de Quebec, 6th at the Breton Classic and just a week ago winning the Coppa Agostoni.
00:55Fourth last year, the former French champion isn't thinking of revenge.
01:00Revenge?
01:01No, not really.
01:02Last year in the final, I made the call to ride with Thibaut and we both decided not to
01:08crack.
01:09I was disappointed in the end not to win but I had no regrets about the way I raced.
01:15So no, it's not really about revenge yet last year did give me some answers in a way I know
01:21now that I'm capable of winning this race.
01:23I have that ambition this year whereas last year I was going a bit into the unknown.
01:27Last year I was a bit more in the unknown.
01:30John Demkolb himself was victorious here in 2013, the veteran looking to make his mark
01:35again on a race he loves.
01:36It's always a great race at the end of the season, the season is already quite long but for
01:45me it's always special to finish the season here and have one more try on a big race with
01:54a lot of tradition, a lot of big names could win this and I'm obviously really proud and happy to
02:02have achieved the victory a long time ago but when you're once in the Palmares that's always
02:08something special when you start a race.
02:11216 km from the start in Chartres II Tour along the banks of the Loire with a traditional
02:17finish on the boulevard Béranger.
02:20Almost 150 km before the first categorised climbs of vineyard tracks, 10 of them in all
02:26packed inside the final 65k.
02:29Enough to whittle down the field, avoiding pitfalls and mechanicals, key to winning in
02:34Tour.
02:3511 riders went clear of the peloton early on building a lead of around 3 minutes, Martin
02:41Rassenberg though missed the move due to an ill-timed mechanical.
02:45The group consisting of Yves Lambert, French duoport Hausslin and Mathis Louvel and a former
02:51Tour de France yellow jersey wearer, Stéphane Bessinger.
02:55A fast start of nearly 48km an hour with a tailwind, heading into the final 70k.
03:01There's Melisa bikes setting the pace at the front of the peloton with Christophe Laporte,
03:05with net company Ineos not far behind riding Baudoin Godin.
03:09And so they arrived at the first track at L'Imre and the gap had dropped considerably, the front
03:14group now just a minute and a half ahead.
03:17Conditions were wet, but the tracks weren't proving overly difficult to traverse, but some
03:22riders were dropped from the peloton.
03:25Mechanical trouble stuck too, notably for one of the big favourites if it came to a bunch
03:29sprint who was riding Paris Tour for the first time.
03:44Nearly 5km to rejoin the peloton but the Soudal Quickstep Speedster remained very much in contention.
03:50On increasingly narrow roads and the peloton racing flat out, inevitably some scares.
03:56The crash holding up a number of riders 50k from the finish including outsiders for the win,
04:01Godon, Arnaud Delis, Mathias Vasek and an impressive performer at the last vuelta, Sandro Ramelli.
04:08The breakaway split is only the strongest held on, five with less than a minute ahead of an
04:13increasingly reduced peloton.
04:14Bessinger, Louvel, Lampard, Ingebretsen and Vandenberg up top as they approach the
04:20vineyard track of Château de Valmer.
04:23The peloton eventually easing up, perhaps happy to bide their time with a minute to make up.
04:29There were still five climbs and tracks to come, time for dropped riders to make a comeback,
04:34and that was the case for Lidltrek's Czech champion Vasek.
04:38While others waited, Alex Huan was brave in the colours of Groupama FTG,
04:42yet the Frenchman couldn't bridge to the escapades.
04:47Le Tudor also moved up towards the front of the peloton to get closer to the action and put
04:53Mathieu Trentin back in position, but things didn't stay calm for long as they arrived in the Côte de
04:58La Rochere. Just over 25k to go, you know, Birkmous chose to shake things up. The favourites responded,
05:06Laporte and Trentin both made it across. Tim Muller, however, had gone, Vasek struggling.
05:13The breakaway was nearly over too, Ingebrigtsen caught, and the four survivors had barely 10 seconds in hand.
05:20Fewer than 20 riders left in the peloton as they approached the final 20km,
05:26with another group just a few seconds behind.
05:31The breakaway over Pierre Gautrec of Decathlon tried his luck on the Côte de Vallée Chartier.
05:38On the next vineyard track at Pau-Maurier, he had around 10 seconds, and Visma reactived,
05:45Hognes and Laporte starting to anticipate every attack, moving up to the front.
05:51Gautrec was caught by none other than Hognes along with Rasmus Pedersen, the Frenchman's teammate.
05:57By the last track at Roche-Carbonne, the race came together inside the final 10k.
06:02On the climb of the same name, Paul Lepera led six riders including 2024 champion Laporte
06:09and Visma teammate Hognes.
06:11Tour native Thibault Guell hoping home knowledge would pay dividends.
06:16Louis Askey and Abrahamsson there too, and with 5k left, five more bridged across.
06:22Skurins, Florian Seneschel, Jasper Stuyven, Pedersen and Matisse Gersel.
06:27From 11, there could only be one.
06:30In the final 2k, those not wanting to sprint chanced their arm early.
06:35Total chaos behind, Per Strand Hognes had to empty the tank.
06:40And behind him is Jasper Stuyven and Skurins, but Per Strand Hognes is the rider,
06:47who is driving his way to the finish.
06:50Jasper Stuyven is trying to come back desperately to take this victory.
06:55Can he catch him before the line?
06:57What a magnificent finish to this Parry Tour, 120th edition,
07:02and the Norwegian rider is hanging on.
07:05He looks under his shoulder one more time.
07:07Jasper Stuyven trying to close in.
07:10He's almost on the line now.
07:12It's Per Strand Hognes has pulled off an immense victory in Parry Tour.
07:18Per Strand Hognes wins.
07:23Per Strand Hognes knows this race well, a former under-23 Parry Tour champion back in 2022.
07:32Four years on, he's conquered the elite race in style.
07:36A second winner of the season, and the Norwegian's fourth of his professional career.
07:45I like the race.
07:46I'm always suffering a little bit in October, but it's a nice race to finish off the season.
07:51And yeah, it's the last day of racing, so you just give it your all.
07:55And I think it's an interesting race where anything can happen.
07:59And you also need some luck to not have a puncture, and today I had that, so that was nice.
08:05Hognes claiming the first big win of his career, and at just 23, surely not the last.
08:10He won ahead of Stuyven, the Belgian without tasting success since Milan-San Remo in 2021.
08:16Visma won three on the podium.
08:18Winning in 2024, second last year, Christophe Lafort completes the podium set.
08:22Four French riders in the top ten, Gruelle and La Pera once again, as they were last year.
08:28A fitting climax for the last big race of the season.
08:31See you next year for one of the oldest races on the calendar.
