Turgot continues Bouygues Telecom success

Just over a week shy of his 26th birthday, Frenchman Sébastien Turgot took his first European win in three years, continuing the success of his Bbox Bouygues Telecom team in the Three Days of De Panne.

The day wasn't a complete coup for the French squad, as overall leader Steve Chainel succumbed to the relentless pace and harsh conditions on stage two and lost his jersey to Italian Luca Paolini (Acqua e Sapone).

It was the second consecutive stage victory for Bouygues Telecom at Three Days of De Panne on Wednesday after terrible weather conditions made the stage a battle of survival.

Turgot was part of a 12-rider break that went away after just 24km but with his teammate Steve Chainel in the leader's jersey, he did not do any work until late in the stage and was clearly stronger in the sprint.

Only four riders made it to the finish and Turgot beat Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Andriy Grivko (Astana) and Jens Mouris (Vacansoleil) in the sprint.

Gilbert was looking to ease the pressure on his team as the Tour of Flanders looms, but there was little he could do against Turgot and gracefully accepted defeat.

A chase group containing David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) and Luca Paolini (Acqua & Sapone) finished 41 seconds behind the four. Grivko had hoped to take the lead and sacrificed his chances of stage victory by working hard in the break, but Paolini got it despite the two being on the same time.

Millar is fourth overall at 12 seconds and so is still the favourite to seal overall victory in Thursday afternoon's final time trial stage.

All good for BBox Bouygues Telecom

"We won yesterday and today too. We're really on form as a team and Pierrick (Fédrigo) won Criterium International too, so it's all good for us," Turgot said.

Luca Paolini pulled on the leader's jersey but admitted it will be hard for him to stop Millar taking overall victory in the final 14.75km time trial on Thursday afternoon. However he promised to try a few tricks in the 112km morning stage around Koksijde. Acqua & Sapone hasn't been invited to ride this year's Tour of Flanders and so Paolini has nothing to lose.

"It was very, very hard day out there but I like this race and want to do well," he said. It's a pity we're not riding Flanders this year but I think I'm showing that I could have been up there. Oh well, all I can do is try and do well here. It'll be difficult with Millar being so close but we’ll see what we can do before the final time trial. The race isn't over yet."

A hard day in the saddle

The terrible conditions turned the stage into a battle of survival and must have brought a smile to Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen, who opted to miss the race this year and train at home instead.

The wind ands heavy rain greatly slowed the speed of the race and the organisers decided to cut two of the three finishing circuits, reducing the stage distance from 214km to 188km.

The early break of 12 riders looked like most breakaways but there were some interesting names in there, including Gilbert with young British teammate Adam Blythe, Danny Pate (Garmin-Transitions) who was protecting Millar's hopes overall victory and a smart thinking Turgot.

The weather conditions favoured the break and the bunch let them pull out a 10-minute lead with 100km to go. Adam Hansen (HTC-Columbia) was also there despite his nasty crash on Tuesday but the climbs and the weather gradually saw riders fall out of both the break and the bunch. It was a terrible day to be in the saddle.

The gap fell rapidly in the strong wind near the coast with riders cracking one by one in the crosswinds. Chainel lost contact and finished more than five minutes down, while the main bunch lost even more.

On the final lap of the circuit only Turgot, Gilbert, Grivko and Mouris survived up front. Gilbert must have fancied his chances but after all the hard work in the wind and rain, there was nothing he could do against a much fresher Turgot. Gilbert's only consolation is that it was an excellent workout and will make him ready for anything come Sunday's Tour of Flanders.