Published on : 06/21/2026
The team headed to Andorra for a particularly demanding mountain stage, with a 125 km route between Andorra la Vella and La Massana, finishing at the summit of the Col de la Botella. A relentless course totalling 3,780 m of elevation gain, with the Port d'Envalira, the race's highest point at 2,407 m, tackled right from the first kilometres.
Aggressive from the very start of the race, the team made its mark with Sylvain Moniquet and Yaël Joalland in the breakaway, before showing up at the front again in the final with Simon Carr and Ion Izagirre. Present in the group of 6 riders 3 km from the finish, Simon Carr capped off his race with a strong 6th place at the summit of the Col de la Botella, ahead of teammate Ion Izagirre in 9th.
Benjamin Giraud, sports director:
"Today we saw an aggressive team, really motivated on an extremely tough course with Andorra's climbs. A breakaway formed quickly with 14 riders, including Sylvain Moniquet and Yaël Joalland. The break hovered under two minutes, kept in check by the favourites' teams. Behind, we had a strong, well-rounded group on the final climb, and we fought hard to get a meaningful result on this Andorra Clàssica, with 6th place for Simon Carr and 9th for Ion Izagirre. It wraps up a great little week between Occitanie and Andorra, with a fairly young group. Ion Izagirre is coming back to an interesting level ahead of the Tour. With young riders like Jamie Meehan confirming everything we believe about him, and Simon Carr also getting back to an interesting level after his long injury."