Drujon surprises his rivals in four-up sprint

Mathieu Drujon (Big Mat Auber 93) used his fast finish to get the better of three better-known French riders and so won the Classic Sud-Ardèche Souvenir Francis Delpech in the south of France.

With Saturday's Drôme Classic cancelled due to snow, the riders were keen to race, with an early break including the likes of Jeremy Roy (FDJ) and Julien El Fares (Sojasun) shaping much of the race.

However that move was pulled back and another formed on the key climb, the Rocher de Sampzon with 17km to go. It included Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar), Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) and Marc De Maar (UnitedHealthcare).

Drujon, Rémi Pauriol (Sojasun), Romain Bardet and Sylvain Georges (AG2R La Mondiale) got away from the group over the top of the climb and managed to hold off the chasers all the way to the finish.

Bardet tried several desperate late attacks, even on the descent of a last climb but the four came back together and Drujon proved he was fastest and beating Pauriol and Bardet.

Voeckler attempted to chase alone behind but was swept up and finished eleventh, one place behind De Maar.