Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) has a fourth victory in 2015 after beating Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) in a two-man sprint at the Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon on stage 1 of the 2.1 race. Pinot and Voeckler went clear from a select group in the final kilometres of the Col de la Pierre Plate where the FDJ rider pipped his compatriot on the line after good work by Arnold Jeanneson and Kenny Elissonde on the 7.5% average climb.
"We rode to control the breakaway," Pinot told Directvelo. "The legs were pretty good, so we upped the pace a bit on the second climb. Arnold and Kenny did a big job. Each rider has fulfilled his role. When Romain Bardet attacked on the climb, I did not go because I wanted to stay with Kenny. I told him to continue at a good pace. We were riding very fast. We knew it was going to be complicated to get away."
Pinot added Elissonde was crucial to setting up his stage win by keeping the pace and nullifying any attempts by rivals to attack off the front.
"Kenny rode until two kilometres from the finish. When he was gone, we watched each other a lot. Stéphane Rossetto and Thomas Voeckler were strong. For Thomas, his presence in the group showed he is fit," Pinot said.
"It was a nice sprint. I did not want to let go after the work of the team. I'm happy to win a summit finish, because this is my specialty. This is my fourth success in a summit finish this year. It's good to prepare for the Tour of Lombardy."
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Pinot turns his attention to defending his race lead with stage 2 finishing in Mende, the sight of Tour de France's stage 14 finish where Pinot and Bardet where caught out by Steve Cummings and lost the stage win to the canny Briton. However Pinot was second in Mende at last year's Tour du Gévaudan Languedoc-Roussillon behind Alexis Vuillermoz (Ag2r-La Mondiale) as he finished fourth overall.
"It will be tricky tomorrow. Now I know my opponents, namely Stéphane Rossetto and Thomas Voeckler. When Thomas is in the same time as you, you have to be wary. He knows the race well," he added. "The legs were good for me today. That was my first effort in a racing on a big mountain for a month. I did not know where I was."
Pinot has just one overall victory on his palmares, the 2011 edition of the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda by Bergamasca.
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