Matthews, Laporte, Demare headline excellent Paris-Tours peloton

Watch Paris-Tours on SBS On Demand October 10 from 12:30am AEDT, with full catch-up replay and highlights on SBS On Demand and the SBS Sport site the day after.

Michael Matthews (left) and Christophe Laporte (right) at the 2022 UCI Road Cycling World Championships Elite Men's Road Race. (Getty Images)

(EDIT: This article was written before an announcement from Michael Matthews that he would be ending his 2022 season before Paris-Tours.)

The 116th edition of Paris-Tours, which will begin in Chartres, will be the final race in the storied career of Belgian cycling legend Philippe Gilbert (Lotto Soudal), who won two editions of the race in the past.

The former Belgian world champion will have his work cut out to make his final career start a winning one however, with defending champion Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) one of the leading contenders for the French Classic win.

Two thirds of the World Championships podium from the elite men’s road race will also be present to contest the win. Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) and Australian Michael Matthews (BikeExchange-Jayco) will race through the vineyards of the Loire, both a good chance of victory.

Among the other contenders are Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R-Citroen), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates), and Michal Kwiatkowski (INEOS Grenadiers), with more riders to be confirmed closer to the date of the race.

Philippe Gilbert, winner of the 2008 and 2009 editions in the jerseys of Française des Jeux and Silence-Lotto, will pin on his last bib in a professional race, putting an end to an exceptional career as a chaser of classics.

The specialists of the past, present and future will gather, as six former winners in total will be present at the start, including John Degenkolb (winner 2013), Jelle Wallays (2014, 2019), Matteo Trentin (2015, 2017) and Arnaud Démare (2022).

Among them, the defending champion has the highest ambitions, with the French sprinter and hard man coming off a series of victories and top finishes since his return to racing at the Tour of Poland in August. The Groupama-FDJ sprinter had two top-three results before cracking the win last year, and this could be a roadmap to inspire Benoit Cosnefroy (3rd in 2018, 2nd in 2020), who has decided to elongate his season after winning the Grand Prix de Québec.

French hopes for Paris-Tours will also ride with Christophe Laporte, who has just returned from the World Championships in Australia with a silver medal that gives him every reason to be optimistic. His sprinting speed will likely be decisive if he finishes in a small group.

Making his debut at the race will be Australian Michael Matthews, hoping to become the first Australian to win the race since Phil Anderson in 1986. His talents aren’t limited to sprinting, but he’ll be in with a shot from reduced bunch kick, a circumstance that last decided the race in 2016.

Depending on the selection of the vineyard paths and the climbs of the course; several top sprinters could be in with a good chance for victory, like Jasper Philipsen, Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Giacomo Nizzolo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Elia Viviani (INEOS Grenadiers).

However, in the past five editions of the race, attackers have taken the spoils , and strong riders like Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Michal Kwiatkowski, Alberto Bettiol, Magnus Cort Nielsen (both EF Education EasyPost), or Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies).

Watch Paris-Tours on SBS On Demand October 10 from 12:30am AEDT, with full catch-up replay and highlights on SBS On Demand and the SBS Sport site the day after.