Van Aert attacked 1.8km from the line on a short climb, pulling teams into a chase and leaving Brennan perfectly positioned for the finish. Pogačar came third, Mads Pedersen fourth — meaning Brennan out-sprinted the field on terrain that should have neutralized a conventional sprinter. His Vuelta a Burgos wins had already flagged the capacity to perform on harder finishes; Manosque confirmed it at the highest level on day one of racing.