Lorenzo Fortunato attacked solo and was the fastest on the Saint Romain de Lerps climb, but he was caught near the finish as chaos unfolded in the final of this French classic. With many favourites going the wrong way, Romain Grégoire took an uncontested win ahead of Marco Brenner, while XDS Astana secured multiple top-five finishes.
The 25th edition of the Faun-Ardèche Classic has in recent years attracted a very strong start list, with climbers using it to warm up for Tirreno-Adriatico and Paris-Nice. However, as it clashes with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, it does not receive as much attention. Last year’s podium finishers Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, and Romain Grégoire returned alongside Cian Uijtdebroeks, Isaac Del Toro, Christian Scaroni, Enric Mas, Brandon McNulty, Marc Hirschi, and many other elite climbing talents. With a hilly course and intense racing, it is not the easiest race to even finish.
The race usually opens up on Saint Romain de Lerps. The first to launch a huge acceleration was Soudal Quick-Step climber Valentin Paret-Peintre, the winner of Jabal Akhdar and second in GC at the Tour of Oman. Romain Grégoire bridged, but both were brought back by the peloton, led by Juan Ayuso, who later attacked with Grégoire. They were caught, and Lorenzo Fortunato used the moment to get a gap, proving the fastest on the climb.
Fortunato climbed Saint Romain de Lerps in 18:16 minutes, pushing 6.50 ᵉW/kg. The favourites’ group stuck together, not going all out, riding at 6.10 ᵉW/kg and losing 30 seconds to the Italian. In the 2024 race, Ayuso was the fastest on this climb, pushing 6.64 ᵉW/kg for 17:33 minutes. In 2022 and 2023, the race used a different version of Saint-Romain-de-Lerps, but David Gaudu and Brandon McNulty still performed at a similar level on the W/kg curve.
Marco Brenner and Romain Grégoire were among the most active in the chasing group and worked to close the gap. Fortunato was caught by Enric Mas on the Val d’Enfer (1.5 km, 10.3%) close to the finish, but they did not survive at the front. With a big group of elite GC riders, it looked set for an exciting bunch sprint. However, similar to Volta ao Algarve, most favourites, including Ayuso and Mas, went the wrong way in the final or crashed, losing their chance to fight for the win.
Against little competition, Romain Grégoire took victory, while Marco Brenner finished second after working for Hirschi, continuing his great 2025 season. XDS Astana farmed UCI points, with Fortunato, Clément Champoussin, and Scaroni finishing third, fourth, and fifth.
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