Fournier wins opening stage of Circuit de la Sarthe

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French cycling has found one more super talent in Marc Fournier, 21, who impressed with a solo victory in the inaugural stage of the Circuit cycliste Sarthe-Pays de la Loire the same way Thomas Löfkvist, also with FDJ and aged 20 at the time, did it to clinch the overall classification in 2004 through the last stage in Le Mans.

"Our plan was to join the early breakaway so I did, but I never imagined I'd be the winner at the end," Fournier told Cyclingnews at the finish in Château-du-Loir. "It's exceptional. I'm a neo pro, just 21 years of age and I win my first pro race although it's only my sixth day of racing this year. People aren't used to see breakaways like this in the pro ranks anymore. It's usually controlled by sprinters."

Fournier followed an attack by Germany's Grishka Janorksche of Team Roth at kilometer 2 but it wasn't going to be the standard scenario expected by many. The advantage of the duo reached 17:20 at the côtes des Jasnières (km 88) but the riders were firstly informed it was twenty minutes, which boosted Fournier and Janorschke's motivation.

"Considering my skills as a rouleur, I've thought the chasers would have to bury themselves to catch us," Fournier noted. "Until that point, since I was at the head of the race I was targeting the King of the Mountains competition as a consolation prize. But then I've believed there was a chance to win."

In the peloton, all eyes were on Direct Energie who lined up with Bryan Coquard as the best sprinter of the 95 starters. "We got scared when we heard of the twenty minute gap," explained his teammate Tony Hurel. "But when we started pulling, nobody came to help us. We had no choice after we took our responsibilities at the Route Adélie and Paris-Camembert."

Led by Thomas Voeckler, the French team reduced the deficit of the bunch to 2:15, as such Fournier isn't assured of winning the Circuit cycliste Sarthe-Pays de la Loire like another FDJ rider, Carlos Da Cruz who kept an advantage of 5:52 over the peloton at the end of stage 1 he won in 2003.

"It should be ok to defend the yellow jersey in the morning stage tomorrow and I'm not a bad time triallist either," said the European champion for individual pursuit (Athens 2015). "But Thursday's stage at Pré-en-Pail will be the most complicated."

On that day, the neophyte from Normandy expects to lead the race just a stone's throw away from his hometown of Alençon.

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