# Étoile de Bessèges

The Étoile de Bessèges (English: Star of Bessèges) is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a stage race run over five days in 1974. Since 2005, it is on the calendar of the UCI Europe Tour as a 2.1 event and features as the earliest stage races of the European season.
The Étoile de Bessèges is the first of several stage races held in the hilly South of France in February, preceding La Méditerranéenne, the Tour du Haut Var and the Tour La Provence. These early-season races are competed mainly by French teams and are considered preparations for Paris–Nice, the first European World Tour event in March.

## Winners

| Year | Country | Rider | Team |
| 1971 | France | Jean-Luc Molinéris | Sonolor–Lejeune |
| 1972 | France | Jean-Luc Molinéris | Sonolor |
| 1973 | France | Robert Mintkiewicz | Sonolor |
| 1974 | France | Jacques Esclassan | Peugeot–BP–Michelin |
| 1975 | France | Patrick Béon | Peugeot–BP–Michelin |
| 1976 | France | Maurice Le Guilloux | Gan–Mercier |
| 1977 | Belgium | Willy Planckaert | Maes–Mini Flat |
| 1978 | West Germany | Dietrich Thurau | IJsboerke–Gios |
| 1979 | France | Jacques Michaud | Flandria–Ça va seul |
| 1980 | Belgium | Franky De Gendt | TI–Raleigh |
| 1981 | Netherlands | Jan Raas | TI–Raleigh |
| 1982 | Netherlands | Cees Priem | TI–Raleigh |
| 1983 | Netherlands | Bert Oosterbosch | TI–Raleigh |
| 1984 | Belgium | Eddy Planckaert | Panasonic |
| 1985 | Belgium | Guy Nulens | Panasonic |
| 1986 | Switzerland | Niki Rüttimann | La Vie Claire |
| 1987 | France | Ronan Pensec | Z–Peugeot |
| 1988 | Netherlands | Adri van der Poel | PDM–Concorde |
| 1989 | Belgium | Etienne De Wilde | Histor–Sigma |
| 1990 | Netherlands | Frans Maassen | Buckler |
| 1991 | Netherlands | Ad Wijnands | Team Telekom |
| 1992 | Switzerland | Beat Zberg | Helvetia |
| 1993 | France | Armand de Las Cuevas | Banesto |
| 1994 | Netherlands | Jean-Paul van Poppel | Festina–Lotus |
| 1995 | Ukraine | Sergei Oetsjakov | Polti–Granarolo–Santini |
| 1996 | Czech Republic | Ján Svorada | Panaria–Vinavil |
| 1997 | France | Patrice Halgand | Festina–Lotus |
| 1998 | Belgium | Jo Planckaert | Lotto–Mobistar |
| 1999 | France | David Lefèvre | Casino–Ag2r Prévoyance |
| 2000 | Belgium | Jo Planckaert | Cofidis |
| 2001 | Belgium | Niko Eeckhout | Lotto–Adecco |
| 2002 | Australia | Robbie McEwen | Lotto–Adecco |
| 2003 | Italy | Fabio Baldato | Alessio |
| 2004 | France | Laurent Brochard | AG2R Prévoyance |
| 2005 | France | Freddy Bichot | Française des Jeux |
| 2006 | Belgium | Frederik Willems | Chocolade Jacques |
| 2007 | Belgium | Nick Nuyens | Cofidis |
| 2008 | Russia | Iouri Trofimov | Bouygues Télécom |
| 2009 | France | Thomas Voeckler | Bbox Bouygues Telecom |
| 2010 | France | Samuel Dumoulin | Cofidis |
| 2011 | France | Anthony Ravard | Ag2r–La Mondiale |
| 2012 | France | Jérôme Coppel | Saur–Sojasun |
| 2013 | France | Jonathan Hivert | Sojasun |
| 2014 | Sweden | Tobias Ludvigsson | Giant–Shimano |
| 2015 | Luxembourg | Bob Jungels | Trek Factory Racing |
| 2016 | France | Jérôme Coppel | IAM Cycling |
| 2017 | France | Lilian Calmejane | Direct Énergie |
| 2018 | France | Tony Gallopin | AG2R La Mondiale |
| 2019 | France | Christophe Laporte | Cofidis |
| 2020 | France | Benoît Cosnefroy | AG2R La Mondiale |
| 2021 | Belgium | Tim Wellens | Lotto–Soudal |
| 2022 | France | Benjamin Thomas | Cofidis |
| 2023 | United States | Neilson Powless | EF Education–EasyPost |
| 2024 | Denmark | Mads Pedersen | Lidl–Trek |
| 2025 | France | Kévin Vauquelin | Arkéa–B&B Hotels |