Coquard triumphs in Les Fumades

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Bryan Coquard (Team Europcar) wasted little time in claiming his first victory as a professional with a stage win today at Etoile de Bessèges. The 20-year-old neo-pro, in just his second race for Europcar, prevailed in the field sprint finale to stage 2, 157km from Nîmes to Les Fumades. Yesterday's opening stage winner Michael Van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) finished second, followed by Baptiste Planckaert (Crelan-Euphony) in third.

Factoring in the time bonuses awarded at the finish, Van Staeyen remains in the leader's jersey with a six-second lead on Coquard and a 10-second advantage over Frederique Robert (Lotto Belisol).

The stage was dominated by a three-man break escaping in the opening kilometres. Alphonse Vermote (An Post-Chainreaction), Thomas Vaubourzeix (La Pomme Marseille) and Jimmy Engoulvent (Sojasun) at one point enjoyed more than a six-minute advantage over the peloton, but once the chase began in earnest the trio were swept up with 13 kilometres remaining to the finish. Vaubourzeix's stint off the front did not go un-rewarded, however, as he claimed both of the stage's KOMs and took over the lead of the mountains classification.

Once the catch was made the stage was set for another field sprint, with the young Coquard showing the speed and poise which earned him the silver medal last summer in the Omnium at the London Olympics.