Johansen wins Mayenne prologue for UAE Team

Julius Johansen gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG the start they wanted at the Boucles de la Mayenne, winning Thursday’s prologue and taking the first leader’s jersey of the race.

The Danish rider covered the 5.4km course in six minutes and 36 seconds. It was enough to beat Jakob Söderqvist of Lidl-Trek by one second, with Oscar Chamberlain of Decathlon CMA CGM six seconds back in third.

“Apparently, I have found my TT again after many years!”

The result gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG their 34th win of the season.

It also continued a strong run for Johansen in short time trials. His first professional win came a little over a month ago in the prologue at O Gran Camiño. He has now added another victory against the clock in France.

Johansen was among the last riders to start

UAE Team Emirates-XRG had arrived at the race with several riders capable of making an impact in the opening test, and they backed that up across the leaderboard.

Benoît Cosnefroy spent time in the provisional lead before being pushed down the standings. Ivo Oliveira also posted a strong ride. Cosnefroy finished fourth, while Oliveira placed sixth, giving the UAE team three riders inside the top six.

Johansen was among the last riders to start. By then, the target was clear. He had to beat Söderqvist’s time to give the team the stage and the race lead.

He did enough by the narrowest of margins.

The four-day race now moves into its first road stage on Friday, with Johansen leading the general classification and UAE Team Emirates-XRG well placed through Cosnefroy and Oliveira.

Boucles de la Mayenne 2026 prologue results