Demare kicks off Dunkerque with a sprint win

Image 1 of 3

Arnaud Demare (FDJ) racked up his second win of the 2013 season in the opening stage of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, confirming the sprint form that earned him the win in last month's GP de Denain by besting Ramon Sinkeldam (Argos-Shimano) and Kenny van Hummel (Vacansoleil-DCM) to take the first leader's jersey.

Demare described to Eurosport waiting for just the right moment to jump. "I really made the effort at the last moment," he said. "Van Hummel made his move at five hundred meters, I was well placed behind Mickaël Delage, after having been behind Geoffrey Soupe. This is a collective victory of all the FDJ riders who controlled the stage from beginning to end."

The 155km opening stage began with an immediate breakaway from Tim Mertens (Tosport Vlaanderen), Julien Duval (Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Robert Bush (La Pomme-Marseille). The trio was given a long leash, gaining over five minutes in the early part of the stage before their lead was slowly whittled down by the sprinters' teams.

The trio were finally brought back with 25km to go, ahead of the final bonus sprint, taken by Adrien Petit (Cofidis). Lloyd Mondory (AG2R), Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Yohan Gene (Europcar), Clinton Avery (Champion System) tried to make a break for it after the sprint and were joined by Julien El Fares (Sojasun), but the move did not last.

FDJ kept the pace high in the final kilometers to prevent any further attacks, and were able to deliver Demare perfectly to the final 200m. The Frenchman patiently waited for Van Hummel to make the move, followed and then came around to take the stage and race lead over Sinkeldam.

Through time bonuses taken in the breakaway, Mertens moved into third overall at five seconds.

Full Results