Fédrigo wins a wet and rainy Paris-Camembert

Pierrick Fédrigo scored his first victory of the 2013 season at Paris-Camembert, but he didn't seem to enjoy it as much as he might have during the rain-soaked day when many racers suffered. The 74th edition of the "race of the cheese" was decided at the very end when Fédrigo followed an attack by Pierre Rolland (Europcar) atop the mur des Champeaux, 10 kilometers before the finish line in Vimoutiers. Fédrigo crossed the line ahead of Sylvain Georges (AG2R-La Mondiale), Rolland and Julien Antomarchi (La Pomme Marseille) while Bryan Coquard (Europcar) won the bunch sprint for fifth 21 seconds later.

"I'm from the southwest," Fédrigo said. "I like the sun but not the rain and the cold. Several times, I thought of pulling out. Along the way, good sensations came back and I used as much courage as I could. My experience helped as well. Everyone was tired at the end."

A nine-man breakaway made its way to the centre of Normandy with Guillaume Bonnafond (AG2R-La Mondiale), Pierrick Quéméneur (Europcar), Fabien Schmidt (Sojasun), Alexandre Blain and Rob Britton (Raleigh), Kevin Lalouette (Roubaix), Tim de Clercq (TopSport-Vlaanderen), Romain Hardy (Cofidis) and Cédric Pineau (FDJ). Pineau, De Clercq and Britton were the last three to surrender in the final 20 kilometers. They were caught by Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-La Mondiale), Bryan Coquard (Europcar), Julien El Farès (Sojasun), Mike Terpstra (3M) and Antomarchi. Inspired by his brother's third place at Paris-Roubaix, Terpstra tried to finish solo, but he was overtaken by the winning quartet.

"Since the Circuit de la Sarthe, I knew that the wheel to follow was Rolland's," Fédrigo said. "It came down to a sprint between four solid riders. This race course suits me. I'm obviously happy to win here for the first time. Two years ago, I was able to win it, but I was racing with Sandy [Casar] who was close to home, so I raced for him to win. Paris-Camembert is a race that counts in the record book."

"It's not a shame to be beaten by Fédrigo," Georges said. "It's his revenge since I finished ahead of him two years at GP Plumelec. I told my teammates that I'd be up there today in the finale. It feels good to race at the front. I'm building up my form for the Giro."

Rolland had another race in mind. "With those meteorological conditions, it was hard to focus today," he said. "My mind was on Liège-Bastogne-Liège."

Fédrigo and Rolland will both tackle the oldest of the Classics but through a very different program. The FDJ rider will keep racing the French Cup at Tour du Finistère and Tro Bro Leon while the climber from Europcar will ride the Giro del Trentino. "So far, it's been difficult to find the motivation for racing because of the rain," Fédrigo said. "I'm strongly hoping for better weather in the weeks to come."

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