Nacer Bouhanni swooped fast and last to overtake his FDJ-BigMat teammate and fellow neo pro Arnaud Demare in the shadow of the winning line to secure the biggest win of his career and continue the rapid progress he has made this season.
The 21-year-old from Epinal won the overall title at the Circuit de Lorraine earlier in the season and proved his versatility by prevailing in a mass sprint in atrocious conditions in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux on the French/Belgian border.
The result proves that the future of French cycling is in rude health, with Demare even younger than his conqueror at the age of just 20. He looked to have secured the victory with a finishing burst with less than 300 metres to go, which left initial attacker Jimmy Casper (AG2R-LaMondiale) floundering, but Bouhanni was tracking Demare all the way and clinched the title with a well-timed burst that broke the heart of his younger rival.
The 256km course took its toll on the field, which came home in several groups. The wind and rain that marred the majority of the northern European national championships certainly left its mark, with 56 riders abandoning.
With last year’s winner Sylvain Chavanel finishing well of the pace in 62nd position and 2010 champion Thomas Voeckler unable to defend his crown because of injury the race looked wide open. In the end the two youngsters fought out the finish, finishing ahead of Adrien Petit (Cofidis), Denis Flahaut (Roubaix Lille Metropole) and Sebastien Turgot (Europcar).
Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-BigMat) | 5:42:43 |
| 2 | Arnaud Demare (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 3 | Adrien Petit (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 4 | Denis Flahaut (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 5 | Sébastien Turgot (Team Europcar) | |
| 6 | Jimmy Casper (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 7 | Fabien Bacquet (Auber 93) | |
| 8 | Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team) | |
| 9 | Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) | |
| 10 | Maxime Le Montagner (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 11 | Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 12 | Saïd Haddou (Team Europcar) | 0:00:02 |
| 13 | Mathieu Drujon (Auber 93) | |
| 14 | Alexandre Blain (Endura Racing) | |
| 15 | Justin Jules (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 16 | Fabien Schmidt (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 17 | Sébastien Hinault (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 18 | Florian Vachon (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 19 | Geoffrey Soupe (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:00:05 |
| 20 | Boris Zimine (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 21 | Laszlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1) | |
| 22 | Benoît Drujon (Auber 93) | |
| 23 | Rony Martias (Saur-Sojasun) | |
| 24 | Rémi Cusin (Team Type 1) | 0:00:06 |
| 25 | Steve Houanard (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 26 | Jean Luc Delpech (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 27 | Renaud Dion (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 28 | Jérôme Pineau (Omega Pharma- QuickStep) | 0:00:09 |
| 29 | Sébastien Chavanel (Team Europcar) | |
| 30 | Yohann Gene (Team Europcar) | |
| 31 | Gaylord Cumont (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | 0:00:12 |
| 32 | Romain Matheou (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 33 | Loïc Desriac (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 34 | Arnaud Labbe (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | 0:00:15 |
| 35 | Mathieu Delaroziere (La Pomme Marseille) | |
| 36 | Mickaël Buffaz (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 37 | Alexandre Lemair (Bridgestone Anchor) | |
| 38 | Florent Barle (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 39 | Rémy Di Gregorio (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 40 | Alexandre Pichot (Team Europcar) | |
| 41 | Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 42 | Mikael Cherel (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 43 | Cyril Gautier (Team Europcar) | |
| 44 | Benjamin Giraud (La Pomme Marseille) | |
| 45 | David Boucher (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:00:20 |
| 46 | César Bihel (Team Differdange - Magic - Sportfood. De) | 0:00:22 |
| 47 | Gaël Malacarne (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 48 | William Bonnet (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:00:24 |
| 49 | Lloyd Mondory (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 50 | Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:00:27 |
| 51 | Angélo Tulik (Team Europcar) | 0:00:31 |
| 52 | Yannick Talabardon (Saur-Sojasun) | 0:01:04 |
| 53 | Guillaume Levarlet (Saur-Sojasun) | 0:01:06 |
| 54 | Maxime Bouet (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 55 | Benoît Jarrier (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 56 | Christophe Riblon (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 57 | Guillaume Malle (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 58 | Nicolas Baldo (Atlas Personal-Jakroo) | |
| 59 | Rudy Molard (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 60 | Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) | 0:01:08 |
| 61 | Geoffroy Lequatre (Bretagne Schuller) | 0:01:17 |
| 62 | Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) | |
| 63 | Christophe Laborie (Saur-Sojasun) | |
| 64 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 65 | Kévin Lalouette (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | 0:01:24 |
| 66 | Pierre - Luc Perichon (La Pomme Marseille) | |
| 67 | Matthieu Sprick (Team Argos-Shimano) | |
| 68 | Ronan Racault (Auber 93) | |
| 69 | Christophe Kern (Team Europcar) | 0:01:25 |
| 70 | Kévin Denis (Veranda Rideau-Super U) | |
| 71 | Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) | |
| 72 | Julien Berard (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 73 | Dimitri Champion (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 74 | Romain Bardet (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 75 | Morgan Kneisky (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 76 | Anthony Colin (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 77 | Jean Christophe Peraud (Ag2R La Mondiale) | 0:01:34 |
| 78 | Anthony Roux (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:01:40 |
| 79 | Jérémie Galland (Saur-Sojasun) | 0:01:42 |
| 80 | Pierre Rolland (Team Europcar) | 0:01:55 |
| 81 | Cédric Pineau (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:01:58 |
| 82 | Pierre Drancourt (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 83 | Julien Guay (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 84 | Hubert Dupont (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 85 | Romain Lemarchand (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 86 | Yohann Bagot (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 87 | Jean - Eudes Demaret (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 88 | Flavien Dassonville (Auber 93) | |
| 89 | Arnaud Courteille (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 90 | Franck Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau - Super U) | |
| 91 | Jonathan Thire (Auber 93) | |
| 92 | Sébastien Minard (Ag2R La Mondiale) | 0:02:51 |
| 93 | Jérémy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:03:08 |
| 94 | Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | 0:03:33 |
| 95 | Guillaume Blot (Bretagne Schuller) | 0:04:32 |
| 96 | Francis Mourey (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:05:27 |
| 97 | Rémi Pauriol (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 98 | Matthieu Boulo (Roubaix Lille Metropole) | |
| 99 | Arthur Vichot (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 100 | Stéphane Poulhies (Saur-Sojasun) | 0:05:35 |
| 101 | Anthony Geslin (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:05:42 |
| 102 | Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 103 | Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar) | 0:06:23 |
| 104 | Kévin Reza (Team Europcar) | |
| 105 | Vincent Jerome (Team Europcar) | |
| 106 | Romain Bacon (Auber 93) | 0:07:39 |
| 107 | Steve Chainel (FDJ-BigMat) | |
| 108 | Arnaud Gerard (FDJ-BigMat) | 0:08:57 |
| 109 | Tristan Valentin (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 110 | Giovanni Bernaudeau (Team Europcar) | |
| 111 | Blel Kadri (Ag2R La Mondiale) | |
| 112 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | 0:10:59 |
| 113 | Nicolas Vogondy (Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne) | |
| 114 | Johan Le Bon (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 115 | Mathieu Halleguen (Bretagne Schuller) | |
| 116 | Blaise Sonnery (Bridgestone Anchor) |
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