Eeckhout takes final stage in France

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Niko Eeckhout (An Post-Sean Kelly) capitalised on a strong lead-out from his teammates to claim the fifth and final stage of the 2010 Etoile de Bessèges. The Belgian triumphed over Kazakh Valentin Iglinsky (Astana) and Dutchman Hans Dekkers (Landbouwkrediet) to take his first win of the season.

Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), who 24-hours earlier was relegated for cutting the course, claimed the overall title after race leader Arnaud Molmy (Roubaix Lille Metropole) failed to begin the stage. Molmy was one of a huge proportion of the peloton to record a DNS or DNF for the stage, after a stomach bug spread through the bunch overnight.

Molmy's misfortune saw Dumoulin claim the final leader's jersey, three seconds ahead of Matthieu Ladagnous (Française Des Jeux) and a further second ahead of Pieter Ghyllebert (An Post - Sean Kelly Team).

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Eeckhout's final stage success combined with Ghyllebert's top-three finish completed a strong showing by the An Post-Sean Kelly at the French race. Team Manager Kurt Bogaerts was understandably pleased with the efforts of his squad.

"It’s been a fantastic week for the team. We have a lot of new faces, it’s great to see everyone work so well together, and show such strong form so early in the season" he said. "It’s a great boost for us, and we now have ten days to regroup before our next challenge in the [Vuelta ao] Algarve."

Dumoulin takes the lead at the start

The fifth stage of the 2010 Etoile de Bessèges began with a much depleted peloton after some 25 riders, including the overnight leader Molmy, failed to sign on for the final stage of the race.

While many were suffering the effects of illness, a group of seven were significantly sprightlier than their colleagues as they set off on an attack after 10.7 kilometres.

The escapees included: Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Andriy Grivko (Astana), Arnaud Gérard (Française des Jeux), Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r La Mondiale), Yann Huguet (Skil-Shimano), Yannick Talabardon (Saur-Sojasun) and Thomas De Gendt (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator).

As the advantage of the leaders extended towards two minutes the chase behind began to dwindle; the stage marked by a steady stream of riders to abandon. At 50 kilometres the break had built a gap of 1:50.

However, as with the previous stages, the peloton wasn't keen to see the escape establish a decisive gap as they pegged the gap at 1:30.

Status quo ensued as the break continued to work together and the peloton behind gradually chipped away at their advantage. With 42 kilometres to race the gap was 1:27, falling to 0:28 as the 20km-to-go banner approached.

Seven kilometres later the truce was broken as Voeckler and Gérard set off in search of the finish line. The duo clung onto their slim advantage for as long as they could but with four kilometres to go they were brought back to the bunch.

Cofidis and An Post-Sean Kelly immediately assumed control of the peloton as the race quickly swung beneath the red kite. Niko Eeckhout (An Post-Sean Kelly) proving his strength in the finale to edge out Valentin Iglinsky (Astana) for the win.

Dumoulin crossed the line safely in tenth to secure the general classification.