Dumoulin prevails in Pre-En-Pail

Image 1 of 54

Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) continued his run of good form by sprinting to victory in stage three of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe today.

The 29-year-old Frenchman outkicked Julien Simon (Saur - Sojasun) and Xavier Florencio (Cervelo Test Team) to the line in Pre-En-Pailin from a select 29-rider group after a five-man break was swept up on the last of five demanding 8.6km finishing circuits.

There were no changes atop the general classification as overnight race leader Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) remains in the yellow jersey with one stage remaining, tomorrow's 171km trek from Abbaye de l'Epau to Sille-Le-Guillaume.

The break of the day formed after only two kilometres of racing as Piet Rooljakkers (Skil - Shimano), Yuriy Krivtsov (Ag2R La Mondiale), Yannick Talabardon (Saur - Sojasun) and Jeffry Louder (BMC Racing Team) escaped the peloton. The quartet's lead quickly grew to more than five minutes before stabilising at 4:30 after the first hour under the watchful eye of race leader Luis Leon Sanchez's Caisse d'Epargne squad.

By the time the break reached the 8.6km finishing circuit, to be completed five times, their advantage had slipped to 2:30. The circuit was by no means a walk in the park as the peloton had to negotiate a climb with a 10 percent gradient each lap.

After the break crossed the finish line and set out on its first complete circuit the quartet split with Krivtsov and Talabardon taking the lead. The duo led the peloton by 1:35 after the second lap while Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), the 2008 Circuit Cycliste Sarthe champion, attacked from the field and joined Rooljakkers and Louder.

The fresh Voeckler quickly dispatched of Rooljakkers and Louder and bridged to Krivtsov and Talabardon in the race lead.

With 24km remaining, the trio held a 40 second advantage over the peloton which had absorbed Rooljakkers and Louder. The ever aggressive Voeckler then attacked his two breakaway partners and set out alone. The Frenchman maintained a 41 second lead over the field with two laps to go as the remaining two members of the original break were swept up by the peloton.

On the penultimate lap Voeckler's lead dropped to 12 seconds, but he received additional horsepower in the form of teammate Cyril Gautier who jumped across to his team captain. The duo extended their lead out to 20 seconds on the final lap, but were caught with four kilometres remaining.

Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) immediately counterattacked and was joined by Christophe Riblon (Ag2R La Mondiale), Xavier Florencio (Cervelo Test Team) as well as the irrepressible Voeckler and Gautier.

The escape was short-lived, however, as the quintet were caught one kilometre from the finish resulting in a field sprint won by Dumoulin, earning his sixth victory of the season.