Simon wins Tour du Finistère
By Jean-François Quénet/Cyclingnews.com
Saur Sojasun sprinter outpaces Dumoulin, McEvoy
After attempts at the Route Adélie (3rd) and Paris-Camembert (16th), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) finally gave local fans confirmation of his exploits at the Volta Catalunya in March. On Saturday the Breton rider claimed the first win of his career on French soil as he outsprinted the whole bunch at the Tour du Finistère, in the same place where Thor Hushovd won stage 8 of the 2004 Tour de France in Quimper.
Breakaway riders Dimitri Champion (Bretagne-Schuller) and Jean-Marc Marino (Saur-Sojasun) were caught with only one kilometer to go but that was an obvious outcome for the numerous spectators of cycling-mad region of Brittany.
“With my teammate away almost all day, my situation was royal,” Simon said.
“With two laps to go (17km), I told myself that I had to focus solely on the sprint. We had to use the final hill to put the pure sprinters like [defending champion] Romain Feillu in the red. I’m not a pure sprinter but I was logically announced as one of the favorites because the uphill finish suited me really well.”
The other rider that Simon feared mostly was Samuel Dumoulin, but the Cofidis rider seems to have lost his superiority in uphill sprint finishes on French soil this Spring. “My two victories in Catalunya have definitely changed me”, Simon explained. “In the past, I would have never dared to launch the sprint the way I’ve done it today. My confidence is great now. But I actually sprinted from too far out. After following [teammate Laurent] Mangel on the hill, I was ahead with 500 meters to go. Fortunately, Eric Berthou [of rival team Bretagne-Schuller] passed me in the last curve and I was able to take the lead again with 200 meters to go.”
“This is my first pro win in France”, said Simon, 26, who turned pro with Crédit Agricole in 2008 and won his first race last year at Villafranca in Spain.
“I’ve dreamt about it and now I’ve done it. Now I’m going to the Ardennes classics with a great motivation. It won’t be the same level of racing though! It’s flat out all the time. It’ll be a good experience anyway. If I could be in the top 15 at Flèche Wallonne, I’d be happy, but it finishes on a wall. I’m told that Liège-Bastogne-Liège suits me better. I have to see by myself if it’s true or not.”
The surprise of the top 3 was Englishman Jonathan McEvoy, 22, who took third place behind Frenchmen Simon and Dumoulin. “But I’m not surprised to be there”, McEvoy told Cyclingnews. “I’m in good form really and I knew it after winning on the British Premier calendar last week. We came here with a strong team on a course that suited me and I positioned myself pretty well. I followed my teammates and the Cofidis rider [Dumoulin]. Tactics were good but I just didn’t have the legs for winning.”
McEvoy will try and get his first international win at the Tour de Bretagne from April 25 to May 1st. The rider from St. Helen’s near Liverpool is obviously ready to pursue Endura Racing’s strong showing in France after the triumphs of Jonathan Tiernan-Locke at the Tour of Mediterranean and the Tour du Haut-Var earlier this year.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Julien Simon (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | 4:14:35 |
2 | Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
3 | Jonathan McEvoy (GBr) Endura Racing | |
4 | Jérémie Galland (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | |
5 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
6 | Rémi Cusin (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
7 | Armindo Fonseca (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
8 | Justin Jules (Fra) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
9 | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | 0:00:03 |
10 | Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | |
11 | Eric Berthou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
12 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
13 | Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:05 |
14 | Jure Kocjan (Slo) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
15 | Ronan Racault (Fra) Auber 93 | |
16 | Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
17 | Guillaume Faucon (Fra) Auber 93 | |
18 | Julien Guay (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
19 | Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
20 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar | |
21 | Sylvain Georges (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
22 | Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
23 | Clément Koretzky (Fra) La Pomme-Marseille | 0:00:10 |
24 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | 0:00:11 |
25 | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
26 | Yoann Bagot (Fra) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
27 | Bert Scheirlinckx (Bel) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | 0:00:16 |
28 | Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:00:17 |
29 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | |
30 | Mickael Olejnik (Pol) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
31 | Florian Guillou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
32 | Stefan Denifl (Aut) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
33 | Toms Skujins (Lat) La Pomme-Marseille | |
34 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
35 | Rikke Dijkxhoorn (Ned) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
36 | Robert Partridge (GBr) Endura Racing | |
37 | Yohan Cauquil (Fra) La Pomme-Marseille | |
38 | Steven Tronet (Fra) Auber 93 | 0:00:25 |
39 | Matthieu Boulo (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | 0:00:26 |
40 | Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | 0:00:31 |
41 | Romain Feillu (Fra) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
42 | Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | |
43 | Gilles Devillers (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | 0:00:34 |
44 | Jean-Marc Bideau (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
45 | Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
46 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
47 | Marcello Pavarin (Ita) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
48 | Jacek Morajko (Pol) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
49 | Guillaume Malle (Fra) Veranda Rideau - Super U | 0:00:38 |
50 | Florian Le Corre (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
51 | Guillaume Bonnafond (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | 0:00:40 |
52 | Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | 0:00:47 |
53 | Rene Mandri (Est) Endura Racing | 0:00:49 |
54 | Frédéric Amorison (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | 0:00:52 |
55 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
56 | Dean Windsor (Aus) Endura Racing | |
57 | Scott Thwaites (GBr) Endura Racing | |
58 | Jonathan Thire (Fra) Auber 93 | 0:01:01 |
59 | Tortelier Etienne (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | |
60 | Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | |
61 | Mathieu Perget (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
62 | Kevin Lalouette (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
63 | Morgan Kneisky (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
64 | Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar | |
65 | Rafaâ Chtioui (Tun) Team Europcar | |
66 | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
67 | Yohann Gené (Fra) Team Europcar | 0:01:17 |
68 | Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
69 | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | 0:01:26 |
70 | Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | 0:01:28 |
71 | Dimitri Champion (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller | |
72 | David Lelay (Fra) Saur-Sojasun | 0:01:35 |
73 | Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
74 | Ibon Zugasti Arrese (Spa) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | 0:02:15 |
75 | Nicolas Rousseau (Fra) Auber 93 | |
76 | Francis Mourey (Fra) FDJ-BigMat | 0:02:24 |
77 | Erki Pütsep (Est) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com | 0:02:45 |
78 | Pierre Luc Perichon (Fra) La Pomme-Marseille | 0:04:11 |
79 | Tomasz Olejnik (Pol) Veranda Rideau - Super U | 0:05:18 |
80 | Ola Inge Dropping (Nor) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com | 0:07:09 |
HD | Tomas Aurelio Gil Martinez (Arg) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | |
DNF | Fortin Filippo (Den) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
DNF | Ino Ilesic Aldo (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
DNF | Alexander Serebryakov (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
DNF | Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Auber 93 | |
DNF | Dimitri Le Boulcha (Fra) Auber 93 | |
DNF | Johan Mombaerts (Fra) Auber 93 | |
DNF | Boris Zimine (Bel) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Denis Flahaut (Rus) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Martijn Verschoor (Fra) Team Type 1 - Sanofi | |
DNF | Sébastien Duret (Ita) Bretagne - Schuller | |
DNF | Florent Barle (Slo) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
DNF | Fabien Schmidt (Rus) Roubaix Lille Metropole | |
DNF | Sandy Casar (Ned) FDJ-BigMat | |
DNF | Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Kevin Claeys (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | |
DNF | Anthony Ravard (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
DNF | Boris Shpilevsky (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
DNF | Kristof Goddaert (Fra) AG2R La mondiale | |
DNF | Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Cofidis le Crédit en Ligne | |
DNF | Martin Mortensen (Fra) Vacansoleil - DCM Procycling Team | |
DNF | Maris Bogdanovics (Fra) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com | |
DNF | Gaylord Cumont (Ltu) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
DNF | Franck Vermeulen (Fra) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
DNF | Henryk Cardoen (Fra) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
DNF | Mikael Stilite (GBr) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
DNF | Thomas Vernaeckt (Bel) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
DNF | James Spragg (Bel) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
DNF | Jack Tanner (Bel) GEOFCO-Ville d'Alger | |
DNF | Mauricio Frazer (Bel) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | |
DNF | Manuel Miranda Vergara (Bel) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | |
DNF | Nicolae Tanovitchii (Fra) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | |
DNF | Ruben Menendez Velasco (Fra) Start Cycling Team - Atacama Flowery Desert | |
DNF | Koen Barbe (Fra) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | |
DNF | Reinis Andrijanovs (Fra) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com | |
DNF | Mathieu Delaroziere (Bel) La Pomme-Marseille | |
DNF | Sandis Eislers (Bel) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com | |
DNF | Freddy Bichot (Bel) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
DNF | Baptiste Planckaert (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | |
DNF | Bueken Joeri (GBr) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | |
DNF | Kévin Denis (Arg) Veranda Rideau - Super U | |
DNF | Kevin Peeters (Chi) Landbouwkrediet - Euphony | |
DNF | Ian Wilkinson (Mda) Endura Racing | |
DNF | Alexandre Blain (Spa) Endura Racing | |
DNF | Yannick Martinez (Lat) La Pomme-Marseille | |
DNF | Evaldas Siskevicius (Lat) La Pomme-Marseille | |
DNF | Thomas Vaubourzeix (Lat) La Pomme-Marseille | |
DNF | Kristofers Racenajs (Lat) Alpha Baltic - Unitymarathons.com |
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