Koldo Fernandez wins sprint in the Vendée

Euskaltel-Euskadi's Koldo Fernandez used the racing strength he acquired at the Vuelta a España to beat the French sprinters at the Tour de Vendée, the 12th and final leg of the French Cup. The Spaniard repeated his effort of two years ago and won for the second time in La Roche-sur-Yon ahead of Cervélo's Davide Appollonio, who got a great lead-out from teammate Heinrich Haussler on his way back to form.

Colombia's Leonardo Duque, the 10th place finisher, secured the overall win at the French Cup by a single point over Florian Vachon, who finished seventh.

"The roads over here suit me because it's similar to the Basque country," said the 29-year-old from Zurbano. "I'm very happy to win here again. To tell the truth, I was watching Jimmy Casper, so I was a bit surprised when the two Cervélo riders created a gap, but it went well at the end."

The race concluded with a bunch sprint finish but the race was intense all the way through. Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) and Jérémy Roy (FDJ) were the most active riders in the 10-man breakaway that took off soon after the start and got caught with 50 kilometres to go. Voeckler tried again but a group of four managed to go away with Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel), Ronny Martias (Saur-Sojasun), Rein Taarämae (Cofidis) and Bert Scheirlinckx (Landbouwkrediet).

"I tried at the beginning, I tried in the middle and I tried at the end of the race but it just didn't work out," said the French champion who was riding with his heart more than with his head to show that his BBox Bouygues Telecom team is still alive. Timing is tight for team manager Jean-René Bernaudeau to seal a deal with a new sponsor by Tuesday. "Every year there are a lot of people at the Tour de Vendée but this time there were even more," Voeckler said. "It probably has something to do with the fact that people want to see our team at the Tour de Vendée and at the start of the Tour de France again next year."

The Bbox Bouygues Telecom squad finished the work initiated by RadioShack by catching the four-man breakaway with 20km to go. Romain Lemarchand (BigMat-Auber 93) attacked with 10km to go, and was joined by Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel), Gert Verheyen (Landbouwkrediet), Rob Ruijgh and Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil). Voeckler and Benoît Vaugrenard (FDJ) tried to bridge the gap but it was all together again with 2km to go and the bunch sprint was inevitable.

The Saur-Sojasun team rode hard at the front but the duo from Cervélo and Fernandez were definitely stronger. "The strength I have from the Tour of Spain made me have an advantage," Fernandez told Cyclingnews.

"I was dreaming of winning but when I saw Fernandez passing me, there was nothing to do," said runner up Davide Appollonio, who was happy with his French campaign as he won the last stage of the Tour du Limousin and finished second at the GP Fourmies.

Fernandez continued the tradition of Basque riders winning at the Tour de Vendée, as they've won four of the past five editions.. It started with Alberto Leanizbarrutia in 1988, then Mikel Gaztanaga won twice in a row (2006 and 2007) and now Fernandez has put his name on the record for the second time following his 2008 win.