Etoile de Bessèges: Coquard triumphs on stage 3

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Bryan Coquard (Europcar) sprinted to victory in stage 3 at Etoile de Bessèges, a 152km circuit race starting in finishing in Bessèges. The young Frenchman won his first race of the season in a photo finish against yesterday's stage winner Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ), while John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) rounded out the top three.

Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) remains in the leader's jersey earned after winning the opening stage from a breakaway. Benoît Jarrier (Bretagne Séché Environnement) holds second overall at five seconds, followed by Boris Dron (Wallonie-Bruxelles) in third at 12 seconds.

The sprinters have been chipping away at Helven's lead via time bonuses, with Bouhanni now fourth overall at 18 seconds. Degenkolb and Coquard are fifth and sixth overall respectively, both at 24 seconds.

Stage 3 at Etoile de Bessèges consisted of three opening laps of a 44km circuit, followed by three laps of a 6.8km finishing circuit. The larger circuit featured a category 1-rated ascent situated 6.4km into the loop which provided a launch pad for the day's early escape.

French national champion Arthur Vichot (FDJ) pushed the pace up the 5km-long climb and claimed the day's first KOM, with the peloton splitting into three groups in his wake. Vichot would soon joined by four other riders - Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-La Mondiale), Rodolfo Torres (Colombia) and Rémy Di Grégorio (Team La Pomme Marseille 13) - to form the day's early break.

After completing one lap of the opening circuit the break's lead remained steady at four minutes with Giant-Shimano and Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise sharing the pace-making at the head of the peloton. At the conclusion of the second 44km circuit the break's advantage had dipped slightly to 3:30 with Lotto Belisol now controlling the peloton.

Nearing the end of the final large loop both Giant-Shimano and Lotto Belisol had riders leading the chase in the peloton with the break's lead now less than two minutes. When their lead had been reduced to approximately one minute Torres attacked his breakaway companions and moments later Vichot suffered a flat.

The French champion regained contact with the three riders chasing Torres and at the start of the finishing circuits the Colombian had been chased down by the other members of the break. The peloton trailed the escape group by 1:20 at the start of the finishing circuits and by the time they heard the bell lap for the final 6.8km loop the break had been absorbed.

Giant-Shimano ramped up the pace in the closing kilometres for their sprinter John Degenkolb, but it would be a pair of Frenchmen in Bryan Coquard and Nacer Bouhanni who would come to the fore in the closing metres to fight for stage honours.

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