Bouhanni sprints to victory at GP de Fourmies

One day after André Greipel (Lotto Belisol) got the better of him in the sprint finale at the Brussels Cycling Classic, Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) outkicked the German champion to win the GP de Fourmies and notch his eighth victory of the season. Bryan Coquard (Europcar) completed the podium for third place.

The 205km race was dominated by an early six-man break which included Ángel Madrazo (Movistar), Sander Helven (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Carlos Julian Quintero (Colombia), Clément Koretzky (Bretagne-Seche Environnement), Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) and Julien Duval (Roubaix Lille Metropole).

The escapees survived to the 11km finishing circuit, which was negotiated five times, but were caught early on their penultimate lap.

FDJ had been leading the chase and under their impetus on the rolling course the peloton fractured, leaving approximately 50 riders at the head of the race to vie for victory.

Heading into the finale an attack was launched by Kristijan Koren and Maciej Bodnar (Cannondale), Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Leonardo Duque (Colombia) and Alessandro Malaguti (Androni Giocattoli), but their bid for victory was neutralised four kilometres from the finish.

Other attacks were launched by riders such as Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R La Mondiale) and Giovanni Visconti (Movistar), but the sprinters' teams chased them down ensuring a field sprint finale for the 81st edition of the GP de Fourmies.