Frenchman Damien Jeanjean, 35, finally won his first L’Etape du Tour, completing the mountainous 20th stage of this year’s Tour de France, between Nice and Col de la Couillole and claiming the famed yellow jersey.

Jeanjean, who finished 2nd in 2022 and 3rd in 2023, distanced all challengers on the spicy 138 kilometer route with more than 4600 meters of positive elevation gain, including ascents of the Braus, Turini, Colmiane and Couillole passes. He finished in 4:40:28 with an average speed of 29.24 km/hr. Next was fellow countryman Adrien Guillonnet (4:43:09) and then the Belgian Tim Alleman (4:43:06).

”It’s cool to keep making progress at my age. I started late, too late for the pro teams to take a second look at me, so cyclosportive events are the best. And no other cyclosportive beats L’Étape du Tour. I’m ecstatic,” Jeanjean commented afterwards.

27 year-old FDJ – SUEZ pro Gladys Verhulst-Wild, who finished 2nd in at the French National Road Championships in June, was the first woman in 5:36:24, with Selina Burch (5:38:29) of Switzerland in second place and Aurore Puachet (5:42:56) of France in third.

”I just came here for fun, without any ambitions, but of course I’m happy. I’d never tackled L’Étape du Tour de France before and, even for me as a pro, it’s an incredible victory,” Verhulst-Wild said from the podium.

Over 10,000 riders participated in L’Etape du Tour 2024.

Complete L’Etape du Tour results HERE

Photo Credit: Romain Laronche

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