First pro win for Sulzberger, overall for Ventoso

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Wesley Sulzberger of Française des Jeux soloed away from his breakaway companions to earn the Australian his first professional win in the second and final stage of Paris-Corrèze. Sulzberger finished the 147.6-kilometre stage six seconds ahead of Julien Simon (Besson Chaussures-Sojasun) and eight seconds in front of Matthieu Sprick (BBox Bouygues Telecom).

Spain's Francisco Ventoso (Carmiooro - A-Style) finished the stage in sixth place, 10 seconds behind Sulzberger, but finished 1:26 ahead of overnight race leader Freddy Bichot (Agritubel). The Spaniard erased a 29-second general classification deficit on Bichot to win Paris-Corrèze 57 seconds ahead of the former race leader. Ventoso's Swiss teammate Laurent Beuret (Carmiooro - A-Style) rounded out the general classification podium in third, one minute behind.

The Italian Continental squad Carmiooro - A-Style took the initiative from the start by placing five of its riders into the decisive early 24-man breakaway: Eric Berthou, Alexandre Aulas, Diego Tamayo, Maxime Gourov and Ventoso.

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"We made the mistake of setting tempo behind them instead of going with them," said Bichot, whose Agritubel team was unable to close the gap. The French rider was extremely disappointed with finishing second because of a tactical mistake while he eyed his fifth win of the season.

"I expected to win but not this way." said Ventoso. "I had an easy day actually because I've stayed on the wheels of my teammates until the last [21km] lap. After that I had all the French riders against me. They wanted to win the stage but I was fresh enough to maintain my position."

The former Saunier-Duval and Andalucia rider knew he had good form after his recent third place finish on stage five of Italy's Brixia Tour and a stage win at the Vuelta Ciclista Internacional a la Comunidad de Madrid. He's currently hoping for more good news having made an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding an out of competition dope test he failed in May of last year, for which he served a three-month ban. "The UCI didn't accept a therapeutic use exemption given by the hospital. I hope the sanction will be cancelled by the CAS," Ventoso said.

The other rider who profited from the great work of the domestiques from Carmiooro-A Style was Sulzberger. The Tasmanian made the front group with three teammates from Française des Jeux: Rémy Di Gregorio, Matthieu Ladagnous and Jocelyn Bar. "It was a perfect situation for us," said Sulzberger. "Having finished 10th here last year as a stagiaire at my first pro race, I knew it would be important to be away early. And unlike yesterday, today I had very good legs. I attacked with 500 metres to go after catching the Bbox rider [Matthieu Sprick] who had attacked earlier. I sprinted all out on the final hill."

With his first pro win, Sulzberger earned his first start at a Grand Tour. The Australian, along with the likes of Sandy Casar, Di Gregorio and Ladagnous, will line up for Française des Jeux at the Vuelta a Espana. "I thought my third place at the Poly Normande on Sunday was enough to qualify, but I realized I had to win here as well."

Following the Spring classics, where he gained a lot of experience, notably with a long breakaway in Paris-Roubaix, Sulzberger was already considered by Marc Madiot for a start at the Tour de France despite only being in his first year as a pro. However, a knee injury postponed his ambitions until the second part of the season.

Sulzberger is also a major prospect for Australia at the world championships. "Circuit races suit me the best," said Sulzberger, who won a silver medal at the U23 world championships two years ago.