Kaden Hopkins began his year as a team leader with Vendée U in decent style as the European cycling season got under way today.

The Bermudian rider was competing in the first stage of the 2024 Essor Basque, which consisted of 117 kilometres between the pyreneean village of Boucau to Tarnos, which lies five kilometres north of Bayonne in south-west France.

Hopkins finished the first stage eighteenth of the 147 cyclists, 1min and 38secs behind winner Ilan Larmet of the Dinan Sport team, who crossed the line in a time of 2:43:07 along with runner-up Killian Larpe and third-placed Sam Maisonobe, who also competes for Vendée U.

The Essor Basque consists of five stages, spread over a week, with stage two taking place over 120km between Souraide and Combo on Sunday. There is then a break of four days with the final three stages taking place on consecutive days between Friday and Sunday.