Bozic speeds to stage one win

Slovenian Borut Bozic powered to the victory in the first stage of the Étoile de Bessèges on the 146km journey from Aigues Mortes to Le Grau du Roi. The Vacansoleil sprinter bested the An Post-Sean Kelly team's Niko Eeckhout and Frenchman Arnaud Molmy in the bunch kick to the line.

The 29-year-old Bozic donned the first leader's jersey of the race thanks to his efforts, and credited his team with delivering him to the win.

"It was more than perfect how the team rode today. It's unbelievable that I already win right now, my teammates convinced me to participate in the sprint, as in my opinion I wasn't good enough to do a sprint. This is surely not our last victory in the cmming weeks. The leader jersey is a good support and I will see what is going to happen day by day."

Under clear skies, the race began in the usual aggressive manner before a break went clear and the peloton eased up to recover from its efforts.

Julien Loubet (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Floris Goesinnen (Skil-Shimano) escaped at kilometre 18, and gained a massive 9'50" on the bunch before the Française des Jeux and Vacansoleil teams began to chase for their sprinters.

The peloton was bringing the escapees back ahead of schedule, and with two 19.5 km laps left to go, the pair had just over a minute's advantage when Johan Coenen (Topsport Vlaanderen) jumped across to the leaders.

Coenen's additional help allowed the trio to stay clear until mid-way through the final lap when the sprinters' teams finally brought them back, setting up the big bunch kick.

In the finale, Bozic proved too powerful for the FdJ train, and its sprinter Sébastien Chavanel faded to fourth behind Eeckhout and Arnaud Molmy of the Roubaix Lille Metropole team.