Kreder strikes again in La Londe les Maures

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Michel Kreder (Garmin-Barracuda) has started his 2012 campaign in fine fashion as he won back-to-back stages today in the Tour Méditerranéen. The 24-year-old Dutchman outsprinted Danilo Napolitano (Acqua & Sapone) and Guillaume Blot (Bretagne - Schuller) for victory in stage 3 and with the winner's time bonus moved into the leader's jersey with one stage remaining.

"It was an awesome team win," said Kreder. "I said to the team I wanted to take control and [hit the] gas with 1.5 laps to go on the little climb with the whole team and so we did! After that it was so nervous to the finish. I followed Koldo [Fernandez] and my brother [Raymond] like what we said I needed to do in the [pre-race] meeting.

"So I did and with 500m to go I was on my brother's wheel and I screamed at him to ‘GO!' and he led me out. I only had to pass him to win."

Inclement weather again affected the Tour Méditerranéen parcours with stage 3 conducted on what was intended to only be the 10km finishing circuit. Instead, stage 3 was comprised entirely of 11 laps of the circuit in La Londe les Maures.

Michael Albasini (GreenEdge Cycling Team) and Florian Vachon (Bretagne - Schuller) spent much of the race on the attack and were joined in the final 40km by Julien El Fares (Team Type 1-Sanofi), but the FDJ-Big Mat squad of sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich controlled the tempo in the peloton and ultimately brought the race back together in the closing laps on the circuit.

The Tour Méditerranéen concludes on Sunday with a 130km stage finishing atop Mt Faron, although expected inclement weather may yet again force the organisers to alter the route.