Coquard the big cheese in Paris-Camembert

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As soon as his Europcar teammates crossed the line in Vimoutiers, Bryan Coquard apologized that his weight in Camembert wouldn't make much cheese to share, as this was historically the winner's price of the old French semi-classic. The little Frenchman, 58kg, scored his fourth victory this year after two stages of the Etoile de Bessèges and the Route Adélie.

The 75th Paris-Camembert propelled Coquard into the lead of the French cup, but runner up Samuel Dumoulin of AG2R-La Mondiale keeps one more overall victory in sight. Laurent Pichon of FDJ.fr completed the podium fully occupied by representatives of French Pro Teams.

"This morning at the start, we were scared that we'd have to assume the responsibilities in the race but we haven't had to do it," enjoyed Coquard who watched the AG2R-La Mondiale do most of the work chasing behind the five breakaway riders Alexandre Blain (Raleigh), Franck Vermeulen (Roubaix-Lille Métropole), Moreno De Pauw (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Alo Jakin (BigMat-Auber 93) and Fabio Chinello (Area Zero Pro Team).

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In the hills around Vimoutiers in the beautiful and sunny Normand countryside, local rider Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) launched a strong attack in the Mur des Champeaux but got chased down by Coquard's teammate Alexandre Pichot who is also from Normandy. Another Europcar rider, Maxime Médérel, was the last attacker of the day, prior to the regrouping of twenty-five men for an unexpected bunch sprint.

"Had Médérel passed the top of the last hill alone, I don't think he'd have been caught," Coquard suggested. "I struggled in the climbs, but I managed to hold on."

"We knew that we had to get rid of Coquard to have a chance of winning," Dumoulin commented. "He had attacked a few times in the hills, so we hoped that he'd blow at the end but he didn't. I was on his wheel for the sprint but with the head wind and the false flat terrain to finish, he was definitely the strongest."

"I'm not afraid of races over 200km anymore," Coquard added. "I marked FDJ when Anthony Geslin was leading the sprint for Laurent Pichon and I believed I had to go at 200 metres from the line. On this false-flat, it was a bit far out but I felt I had good legs. I'm super happy with the team work. It was as efficient as at the Route Adélie. Last year I finished fifth here behind a breakaway of four and I was disappointed because we didn't understand each other with Pierrot [Rolland]. This time around, I'm happy with my results so far. I was just a bit disappointed with no stage win at Paris-Nice but I've improved in the climbs."

At the difference of Dumoulin, Coquard will not contest the weekend's French cup races as he'll embark to World Tour events Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, "to gain experience," he said. "It's of another standard of racing but the Amstel Gold Race has a pretty similar terrain as this one here. I'm still in a learning process."

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