The 2016 Étoile de Bessèges (English: Star of Bessèges) was a road cyclingstage 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 Bessèges cycling race.[1]
The race included five stages. The first four were road stages; the fifth and final stage was a 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) individual time trial. The champion of the 2015 Étoile de Bessèges, Bob Jungels, did not take part in the 2016 event as his team, Etixx–Quick-Step, was not among those invited.[1]
The first two stages were won in sprints by Bryan Coquard (Direct Énergie), giving him the lead of the race. His teammate, Sylvain Chavanel, won a reduced sprint on the following stage to take over the race lead. He retained this lead in the following stage, won in a breakaway by Ángel Madrazo (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA). He lost his lead, however, in the final stage time trial: he lost 30 seconds to Jérôme Coppel, who therefore won the race overall. Tony Gallopin (Lotto–Soudal) came second, with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) third. Chavanel finished fourth. Coquard won the points classification and FDJ won the team classification. Roland Thalmann (Team Roth) won the mountains classification and Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) won the youth classification, having finished seventh overall.
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