Dumoulin takes overall French Cup

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For the third consecutive time, the overall French Cup will again be won by a Cofidis rider, Samuel Dumoulin. With one race left on the 2012 series calendar, the 32-year-old leads the classification by 59 points over second-placed Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun), and is therefore already certain to take the national prize.

Despite a crash during the race, Dumoulin finished fifth in the final sprint of Sunday's Grand Prix d'Isbergues, the penultimate event of the French Cup. He suffered substantial road rash but still managed to finish the race to gain more points for the French Cup standings.

"The crash wasn't serious but I have some nice wounds on the leg and left elbow," Dumoulin tweeted after the race. "I did have some trouble to continue."

His high points tally in the Coupe de France stems from his victory of the GP La Marseillaise at the beginning of the season, as well as his three second placings achieved at the Tour du Finistère, GP de Plumelec and the Polynormande. "Thanks to all the team's riders for putting aside their personal ambitions at every round to win the Coupe de France for the third time," Dumoulin added.

In 2010, it was Cofidis' Leonardo Duque who led the standings at the end of the season, and last year, Tony Gallopin - now at RadioShack-Nissan - took the trophy home. Dumoulin thus presents Cofidis with a special gift before leaving the team at the end of the season. After five years at the team, the Tour de France stage winner returns to AG2R La Mondiale, where he raced from 2004 to 2007.

The last round of the French Cup, the Tour de Vendée, will take place of October 14.