Calmejane takes overall win at Circuit de la Sarthe

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Direct Energie kept the Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire under control as Bryan Coquard fended off FDJ's Arthur Vichot in the intermediate and final sprints to help his team-mate Lilian Calmejane deliver his third stage race overall victory of the year after the Etoile de Bessèges and the Settimana Coppi & Bartali.

"Our goal was to keep Lilian's jersey," Coquard reacted on the finish line. "We were happy with the 11-man group that went away early but it was a very eventful race and it was all together again just before the intermediate sprints. In that case, it was planned that I'd go for it to prevent Vichot from taking three seconds bonus each time. He took two seconds twice though, so he was virtually three seconds down on GC.

"I told Lilian to not move away from my back wheel. I trusted [lead out man] Angelo [Tulik]. I took the last curve in first position and I looked back to see if Vichot was anywhere in the top 3. As he wasn't, it's a superb day for us. With three stage wins and GC, our Circuit de la Sarthe is a complete success, that’s what we wanted for Thomas Voeckler's last appearance here."

The Circuit de la Sarthe also came to an end in Saint-Calais forty years ago when Raymond Poulidor made his farewell in 1977. The captain of Direct Energie was honored by race organizers and local authorities for his tribute to a race he won in 2008.

Runner up Vichot was fuming after the finish.

"I went for the time bonuses because I didn't want to have anything to regret today," the French champion told Cyclingnews. "Yesterday I was very disappointed to have missed out on the lead. I was upset to been fooled by Direct Energie. But with a seven seconds deficit this morning, everything was possible still even though they [Direct Energie] had a big team here. I only had to finish third in the final sprint. In the last curve, I was fourth I think but someone from Marseille let a gap and it was game over for me. It's not the goal to get good placing, but only to win."

Calmejane continued his winning streak ahead of the Ardennes classics where he could become a man to watch. He's the only pro rider in the world to have won three stage races up to date this year.

"It's been complicated to defend the lead," the 24-year-old from Albi declared. "As I said yesterday, it was better to have seven seconds lead than nothing. We've handled the responsibilities pretty well. I watched Vichot closely in the final lap. I knew it'd be hard for him to make the top 3 considering the level and the motivation of all the sprinters here. Coq to win is the ice on the cake.

"My early part of the season is quite impressive," Calmejane added. "It's a big satisfaction. Last year, I made the top 15 of all my stage races. This year I won three of them plus the King of the Mountain competition at Paris-Nice. It means I have stepped up. It puts pressure on me for the coming years!"

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