Sam Bennett secured his first win of the season under the colours of his new team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team on stage 2 at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque.
Bennett sprinted to victory ahead of runner-up Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) and third-placed Sasha Weemaes (Bingoal WB) in Abbeville.
The peloton caught the last remaining breakaway rider Cyrus Monk (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) with 9km to go before organising their respective lead-out trains for the sprint finish.
Monk was part of an initial breakaway of three that gained more than eight minutes on the field.
Bennett moved into the overall race lead with four seconds ahead of Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and eight seconds ahead of Penhoët as the race heads into stage 3 on Thursday.
How it unfolded
The second stage at the 4 Jours de Dunkerque was a 183.3km race from Wimereux to Abbeville with five categorised climbs before a Huplandre, Le Haut Pichot, and Frencq, followed by two intermediate sprints before the final two climbs Quesnoy-le-Montant and Moyenneville and run-in to Abbeville.
A trio emerged off the front of the pack just 30km into the race with Maxime Jarnet (Van Rysel-Roubaix), Robin Plamondon (CIC U Nantes Atlantique) and Cyrus Monk (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) building a lead to more than eight minutes.
Gwen Leclainche (Philippe Wagner/Bazin) tried to bridge across but couldn't connect with the breakaway riders and ended up stuck in no-man's land until he was caught with 120km to go.
Lotto Dstny, Cofidis, and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale did the lion's share of the pace-setting at the front of the peloton.
As the trio raced closer to the finish, the gap dropped to under two minutes, and Monk launched a solo attack at 40km out, distancing both Plamondon and Jarnet.
The pair of chasers were caught with 26km remaining, but Monk pressed on to maintain his solo lead of 1:20.
Monk's gap was slashed to just 15 seconds with inside 20km from the finish, and his valiant effort in the day-long breakaway came to an end with 9km to go. From there the path was clear for the sprinters' teams to organise their respective lead-outs.
Results
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